COMPARISON OF ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSOR- BENT ASSAY WITH ACID-FAST STAINING TO DETECT CRYPTOSPORIDIUM OF CATTLE FAECES

Authors

  • O. A. AKINKUOTU
  • A. B. AYINMODE
  • M. A. DIPEOLU
  • B. O. FAGBEMI
  • E. B. OTESILE

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51406/jagse.v14i2.1443

Keywords:

Acid-fast staining, Bovine, Cryptosporidium, ELISA.

Abstract

Cryptosporidiosis is a major cause of diarrhoea, weight loss and low productivity in various domestic
animals. The acid-fast staining method used to detect the parasite in cattle may be responsible for the
low prevalence rates recorded in previous studies in Nigeria. A comparison of the efficacy of an en-
zyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and acid-fast staining techniques in detecting Crypto-
sporidium spp. in bovine faeces was carried out in this work. A total of 200 faecal samples were col-
lected from cattle of different age groups by the use of a simple random sampling technique. The sam-
ples were analyzed microscopically using formalin-ethylacetate sedimentation method followed by
modified Kinyoun«¤??s acid-fast staining technique. All the samples were later tested for Cryptosporidium
coproantigens by the use of a commercially available ELISA test kit. Microscopy detected Crypto-
sporidium oocysts in 24.0% while ELISA detected the antigens in 37.5% of the samples. The ELISA,
with a sensitivity and specificity of 72.9% and 73.7% respectively, had a significantly higher (p<0.05)
rate of detection of Cryptosporidium spp. than microscopy with a sensitivity and specificity of 46.7%
and 89.6% respectively. The ELISA is therefore a preferable method than microscopy for detection of
Cryptosporidium in faecal specimens and will be useful in routine diagnosis and screening of large
number of samples in epidemiological surveys.

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Published

2016-02-26

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