Evaluation of a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibodies against the H5 subtype of Influenza A virus in waterfowl.

Plain-English summary

Researchers tested a specific blood test called the ID Screen Influenza H5 Antibody Competition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to see if it could detect antibodies against the H5 subtype of the influenza A virus in waterfowl, specifically Mallards and Pekin Ducks. The ducks were infected with different strains of the virus, both low and highly pathogenic types. They looked at how well the test worked after different waiting times and at different sample strengths. The results showed that all ducks infected with the low pathogenic strains had positive test results, but the test was better at detecting antibodies from the highly pathogenic strains. Overall, the test was effective in identifying the presence of antibodies in the infected ducks.