Enzyme immunoassay for the qualitative determination of antibodies against Coxiella in veterinary serum
Products specifications
| Technology | ELISA |
| Sizes | 96 tests |
Background:Q-fever is caused by an infection with Coxiella burnetii, a small (0.3 - 0.7 microns), pleomorphic, Gramnegative bacterium. Coxiella burnetii exists in 3 different forms: SCV, small cell variant, small cells which are highly infectious; LCV, large cell variant, the cells are less infectious; SLP, spore-like particles with high environmental resistance. They can be infectious for years Q-fever is a zoonotic disease that occurs worldwide with the exception of New Zealand and the Antarctic. Reservoir animals are especially ruminants (sheep, goats, cattle) and ticks. Even pets like cats and dogs, as well as wildlife animals and ducks can be infected. Transmission occurs primarily indirectly through inhalation of contaminated aerosols, but also directly by contact with infected organs or secretions (milk, feces, urine) of animals. In ruminants, an infection often leads to epidemic abortions. During childbirth, large amounts of the agent are excreted. Of particular importance in the transmission of Coxiella burnetii is the infestation of sheep with infected tick. The strong pathogen loaded, dried tick faeces in the fleece of the sheep is a high risk of infection. The disease occurs in two variants, the acute and chronic phase. During the acute phase antibodies against the Phase 2-antigen are formed. High antibody titers against Phase 1-antigens typically occur within the chronic phase. In humans, acute infection is connected with high fever, chills, muscle pain and headache. In the chronic phase organ manifestations such as endocarditis, osteomyelitis and hepatitis can occur. Vulnerable persons are mainly veterinary staff, butchers, farmers and laboratory personnel.
Description:
The qualitative immunoenzymatic determination of specific antibodies is based on the ELISA (Enzymelinked Immunosorbent Assay) technique. Microtiterplates are coated with specific antigens to bind corresponding antibodies of the sample. After washing the wells to remove all unbound sample material a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labelled conjugate is added. This conjugate binds to the captured antibodies. In a second washing step unbound conjugate is removed. The immune complex formed by the bound conjugate is visualized by adding Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) substrate which gives a blue reaction product. The intensity of this product is proportional to the amount of specific antibodies in the sample. Sulphuric acid is added to stop the reaction. This produces a yellow endpoint colour.
Product features:
The kit contains reagents for 96 determinations;
Microtiter plate reader at 450/620 nm;
Cut-off: 10 U
