SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF MYCOPLASMA-GALLISEPTICUM AGGLUTINATION ANTIGENS PREPARED FROM MEDIUM WITH ARTIFICIAL LIPOSOMES SUBSTITUTING FOR SERUM

Three batches of strain A5969 Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) serum-plate-agglutination (SPA) antigen grown in regular Frey''s medium with 12% swine serum, three batches grown in Frey''s medium containing artificial liposomes instead of serum, and one commercial SPA antigen were evaluated for sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivity was measured using chickens exposed to MG by intraocular and intranasal inoculation. Specificity was measured in uninoculated controls and in groups inoculated with the oil-emulsion vaccines Haemophilus paragallinarum, infectious bursal disease inactivated virus vaccine, or Staphylococcus aureus. Sera were tested 1 to 8 weeks postinoculation. All SPA antigens had a perfect sensitivity score, except one liposome-grown antigen batch (LC). The two other liposome-grown antigen batches (LA and LB) maintained significantly higher specificity by yielding significantly (P < 0.01) fewer false positive (FP) agglutination reactions than did the other antigens. The three antigen batches produced in medium with serum had intermediate levels of FP agglutination reactions. When known MG-negative sera were tested, MG SPA antigens LC and commercial SPA antigen yielded significantly (P < 0.001) higher numbers of FP agglutination reactions than the other SPA antigens.