COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF RT-PCR, AGPT AND REVERSE PASSIVE HAEMAGGLUTINATION ASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASE VIRUS IN BROILERS

摘要

The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), reverse passive haemagglutinationassay (RPHA) and agar gel precipitation test (AGPT) were compared for the detection of infectious bursaldisease virus (IBDV) in various organs of experimentally infected broilers. RT-PCR and RPHA required atime of 8 and 1 hour, respectively, whereas AGPT showed precipitation reaction at least after 24-48 hoursof incubation. RT-PCR and RPHA were found sensitive to detect IBDV in tissues, whereas AGPT was lesssensitive in the detection of IBDV. The RT-PCR was significantly more sensitive to detect IBDV ascompared to RPHA, which was significantly more sensitive than AGPT in bursa of Fabricius, liver,kidneys, spleen and thymus samples. RPHA has given economical results for the detection of IBDV insamples from various organs and can be used in field conditions. However, RT-PCR was found to be themost sensitive test among the three tests compared in this study.