Comparison of performances between three commercial ELISA kits for detection of antibodies against Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PPRSV) in swine sera samples

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most economically important diseases in pigs, worldwide. In the USA alone, the total cost to the swine industry has been estimated at $664 million per year. Th erefore, the continuous and reliable monitoring of the PRRS status of a pig herd is required in order to prevent and reduce the costs caused by this infection. Nowadays, commonly used methods for laboratory diagnosis of PRRS infection are serological (ELISA) and molecular (PCR) ones. Th is study aims to assess the sensitivity and specifi city of three diff erent commercially available ELISA kits for detection of antibodies against PRRSV (IDEXX PRRS X3 Ab Test (IDEXX, USA), INgezim PRRS Universal (Ingenasa, Spain), and Pigtype PRRSV Ab (Qiagen, Germany)) using 91 blood serum samples collected from pigs in Serbia. Our study showed a certain level of diff erences in specifi city and sensitivity between three commercially available ELISA kits. However, IDEXX ELISA proved to be a more reliable kit for detecting antibodies against PRRSV with sensitivity of 97.4% and specifi city of 98.1%, compared to INgezim and Qiagen kits specifi city of 92.5% and 83%, respectively, and sensitivity of 94.7% for both kits. In order to achieve maximal reliability of the obtained results, ELISA diagnostic protocol for laboratory diagnosis of PRRS infection should be complemented with additional tests such as PCR and virus neutralization test.