The use of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody to detect infections of equine herpesvirus type 2 (EHV-2).

The research article is about the development of a successful blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for the detection of equine herpesvirus 2 antibodies in horses.

Development of Blocking ELISA

• The researchers worked on developing a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that is effective in detecting antibodies related to equine herpesvirus 2 found in the serum samples of horses.
• The ELISA test operates by measuring the bonding to a unique epitope, which provides a complete picture of the animal’s antibody status.

The Role of Monoclonal Antibody

• The test is founded on a monoclonal antibody with neutralizing activity.
• Monoclonal antibodies are identical immune cells that are all offspring of a unique parent cell. In this context, they were used because of their ability to neutralize the activity of equine herpesvirus 2.
• The utilization of the monoclonal antibody was integral for the high success rate of the test.

Evaluation of the test efficacy

• The effectiveness of this developed ELISA test was evaluated, showing a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 100%.
• A high sensitivity rate means the test correctly identified positive cases for the vast majority of time and hence is reliable, while absolute specificity suggests that all negative cases were correctly identified, implying that there were no false positives.

Successful detection in foals

• Beyond testing on adult horses, the ELISA method was successfully used to detect antibodies in foals (young horses) due to newly acquired infection.
• This highlights the test’s efficacy in catching new instances of infection, which is crucial for control and treatment of the virus at an early stage.