Use of monoclonal antibodies for detection of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for identification of the Sp strain of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). This assay employed 2 monoclonal antibodies directed against 2 non-overlapping epitopes of the minor structural viral protein. It was used to demonstrate the virus antigen in cell cultures and was able to detect 10 ng ml-' of purified virus or 104 TCIDSo ml-l in tissue culture fluid. The assay could be reduced to one step and b e performed within 90 min with good sensitivity. No antigenic variation, affecting the epitopes recognized by these monoclonal antibodies, was observed on 17 IPNV isolates of Sp serotype tested.