DefinePK

Abstract

Abortions of horses caused by Salmonella cause great economic damage to horse breeding farms and private farmsteads in Kazakhstan. This infection is primarily diagnosed through bacteriology, but it is highly dependent on the state of the material under study. It is also time-consuming and lacks sensitivity. Moreover, PCR analysis is used to identify and differentiate the causative agent of Salmonella abortion; the main disadvantage of this is the high cost of equipment and test systems. At the same time, in our country, the effective and affordable method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serological diagnosis and monitoring of this infection is not used. The aim of this work is to show the use of ELISA based on outer membrane proteins (OMPs) for the serological diagnosis of Salmonella abortion in horses. Self-produced OMPs of S. enterica abortus egui were used in ELISA. Serum samples were taken from aborted mares and contact animals. According to the results of the study of blood sera of mares, the presence of specific antibodies was established in 20-43% of cases. The detection of antibodies indicates that the animal has had a disease or is a carrier of the causative agent of the infection, and, in general, an unfavourable situation for this infection in the surveyed farm. The use of ELISA and latex agglutination tests (LAT) makes it possible to determine the presence of specific antibodies in the serum of unvaccinated animals and can be used to monitor the epizootic situation for this infection.