A comparison of detection methods for infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus

Abstract. A comparative study of immunological methods for detecting infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) was made. The anti–IHNV antibody titre was measured by solid phase direct binding assays with'¹²⁵iodinated Protein A from Staphylococcus aureus and with immunoperoxidase staining. The binding antibody titre was much higher than that obtained in the virus neutralization assay. The high binding antibody titre of rabbit anti–IHNV sera made the development of two immunological tests for IHNV possible. Virus–specific proteins were detected on nitrocellulose membranes after transfer from denaturing polyacrylamide gels. The immunological methods were highly specific, sensitive lo less than 10 ng of virus protein, and were useful in characterizing the different strains of IHNV.