The MilA ELISA has been identified as a highly effective diagnostic tool for the detection of Mycoplasma bovis specific antibodies and has been validated for serological use in previous studies. This ...study aimed to estimate the optimal cut-off and corresponding estimates of diagnostic sensitivity (DSe) and diagnostic specificity (DSp) of the MilA ELISA for testing bovine serum. Serum samples from 298 feedlot cattle from 14 feedlots across four Australian states were tested on entry into the feedlot and approximately 42 days later. The paired serum samples were tested with the MilA ELISA, BIO K302 (Bio-X Diagnostics, Belgium) and BIO K260 (Bio-X Diagnostics, Belgium). A cut-off of 135 AU was estimated to be optimal using Bayesian latent class analysis with three tests in multiple populations, accounting for conditional dependence between tests. At this cut-off, the DSe and DSp of the MilA ELISA were estimated to be 92.1 % (95 % highest probability density HPD interval: 87.4, 95.8) and 95.5 % (95 % HPD: 92.4, 97.8), respectively. The DSes of the BIO K260 and BIO K302 ELISAs were estimated to be 60.5 % (95 % HPD: 54.0, 66.9) and 44.6 % (95 % HPD: 38.7, 50.7), respectively. DSps were 95.6 % (95 % HPD: 92.9, 97.7) and 97.8 % (95 % HPD: 95.9, 99.0), respectively. Mycoplasma bovis seroprevalence was remarkably high at follow-up after 42 days on the feedlots. Overall, this study estimated a cut-off, DSe and DSp for the MilA ELISA with less dependence on prior information than previous analyses and demonstrated that the MilA ELISA has higher DSe than the BIO K260 and BIO K302 assays.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
is associated with several clinical syndromes of cattle. Currently, limited information is available on the sensitivity (
) and specificity (
) of serological assays used for the detection of
...-specific antibodies. Consequently, it is difficult to critically evaluate the outcomes of studies that use these assays. Therefore, the current study used bovine sera sourced from
exposure studies from three countries to estimate the
and
of two commercial
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), BIO K302 and BIO K260, and Western blotting. Western blotting had the highest
estimate of 74% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16-98%), compared to the BIO K302: 47% (95% CI: 10-87%) and BIO K260: 28% (95% CI: 1-92%). However, for
the BIO K302: 96% (95% CI: 87-99%) and the BIO K260: 100% (95% CI: 93-100%) out-performed Western blotting: 88% (95% CI: 56-98%). Western blotting was the best assay for detecting seroconversion, correctly identifying 61% (95% CI: 29-86%) of exposed animals compared to 35% for BIO K302 (95% CI: 21-54%) and 8% for BIO K260 (95% CI: 0-87%). While none of the methods assessed had high
and
, the availability of these estimates will aid in the interpretation of studies that use these assays. The results of this study highlight the difficulties encountered when using serology to detect exposure to
in cattle.