Development of indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with nucleoprotein as antigen for detection and quantification of antibodies against avian influenza virus

Avian influenza (AI) is a serious infectious disease caused by avian influenza virus (AIV) belonging to type A Orthomyxovirus. In the present study, we developed an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) employing E. coli-expressed full-length nucleoprotein (NP) of H9N2 avian influenza virus for the detection and quantification of antibodies against AIV nucleoprotein. The NP-ELISA was compared with the AI agar gel propagation (AGP) test, haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, and IDEXX-FlockChek ELISA using 263 sera. The NP-ELISA was significantly more sensitive than the AGP and HI tests, and showed 96.2% agreement ratio with IDEXX-FlockChek ELISA. With results obtained using the NP-ELISA, an ELISA titre (ET) prediction equation, with which the ELISA titres of a flock or individual chickens can be determined, was derived from a positive/negative (P/N) ratio standard curve. The NP-ELISA enables an alternative rapid serological diagnosis and is suitable for influenza A antibody screening, especially in species that harbour several influenza subtypes.