Western blot in comparison with ELISA for detecting antibodies against foot and mouth disease virus

ABSTRACT

Western blot technique is described for visual detection of foot and mouth disease virus [FMDV] antibodies in sera of infected, vaccinated and field cattle using FMDV fragments separated by SDS-PAGE and blotting onto nitrocellulose membrane. The interaction between FMDV antibodies and blotting virus fragments revealed dark blue bands, which is considered a positive result by Western blot. All sera of infected, vaccinated bulls and 10 out of 38 field animals had antibody titers ranged from 1.7 to 3.1 by ELISA. All ELISA positive sera demonstrated dark blue bands against the different FMDV fragment by Western blot. The use of Western blot as a rapid specific and sensitive technique for detecting FMDV antibodies was discussed