Abstract:
Appraisal of the indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and antigen enzyme linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) serological tests as carried out to detect cattle exposed to Theileria parva at the National
Veterinary Research Centre, Muguga (NVRC), Kenya is reported. Using sera from T parva naive
cattle and cattle experimentally exposed to T parva, the two tests were appraised in terms of their
sensitivity and specificity.IFAT and ELISA had the same sensitivity of 90% while ELISA had a higher
specificity (90 %) than IFAT (80 %). A comparison was also made of the capability of the two tests to
detect exposure of dairy cattle to T parva prior to immunization against East Coast fever (ECF). The
positive outcome from the IFAT was significantly higher (X2 = 30,36; P < 0,001) than that from the
ELISA. The agreement between the two tests was low (Kappa= 0,21 ). The two tests indicated a higher
risk of ECF in the study area than was expected. Indications are that the ELISA has been effectively
adopted at NVRC.
