Detection of flagellar antigen ofCampylobacter jejuni andCampylobacter coli in canine faeces with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) — New prospects for diagnosis

A new diagnostic procedure was developed to detect the flagellar antigen ofCampylobacter jejuni andCampylobacter coli in canine faecal specimens and was tested on faecal samples from random-source dogs obtained from the local dog pound. Extraction of acid-soluble proteins was performed on faecal specimens and the extracted material was evaluated using species-specific monoclonal antibodies in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The assay detected allC. jejuni orC. coli infected specimens compared with direct selective faecal culture. One of 18 faecal specimens culture-negative forC. jejuni was identified as positive by the assay, i.e. a false positive rate of 1 of 18 (5.6%) and a corresponding specificity of 94.4%. These results suggest that the screening procedure developed to detect flagellar antigens ofC. jejuni andC. coli in canine faecal samples should be further investigated as a diagnostic alternative to culture.Abbreviations ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - PBS phosphate-buffered saline - OD optical density