From:
AFERRETVET@cs.com
Date: 2001-07-07 11:28:00 UTC
Subject: [Ferret-Health-list] Re: ADV tests
Hi Carla,
You have some good questions: which ADV test is the most
accurate and which will detect ADV the earliest? The answer
to the first one is debatable since there has not been any published
studies comparing the CEP test from United to the ELISA tests from
Avecon. In my experience (using both tests at the same time
on 86 ferrets) the results were the same in 82 out of 86 samples.
That is 95% agreement with the CEP and ELISA (blood and saliva).
Yet 4 samples had positive CEP tests and negative ELISA
(blood and saliva) tests. These 4 ferrets were later tested.
All 4 had positive CEP tests and titers (256, 256, 4, and 4)
from the U of Georgia. These 4 were not retested by ELISA
when the titers were done this spring. (In hind sight I wish a had
run the ELISA tests again to compare to.) Thus there may
take more time for the ELISA to become positive. Maybe the CEP
tests is the better screening test because it may pick up a
positive sooner than the ELISA. Again that is just my opinion
on these tests.
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM