02151nas a2200241   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260007000043653002400113100001100137700001500148700001300163700001200176700001300188700001000201700001200211700001500223245017400238300001200412490000800424520146300432022001401895       2012                            d  c03/2012bSchlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGaHannover10aBurkholderia mallei1 aI Khan1 aM Elschner1 aF Melzer1 aM Gwida1 aL Wieler1 aR Ali1 aM Saqib1 aH Neubauer00aPerformance of complement fixation test and confirmatory immunoblot as two-cascade testing approach for serodiagnosis of glanders in an endemic region of South East Asia  a117-1210 v1253 aVarious serological tests were used for the diagnosis of glanders in the past butstill complement fixation test (CFT) is the internationally prescribed test for tradingequines. A new immunoblot (IB) technique has recently been introducedto overcome the well known shortcomings of CFT i. e. a considerable numberof false positive and negative results and anticomplementary effects of sera.The objective of this study was the comparative evaluation of two glanders CFTantigens commercially available at Central Veterinary Institute of WageningenUR, Lelystad, NL (CIDC) and at c.c.pro GmbH, Oberdorla, DE (c.c.pro) in a glandersendemic area regarding specificity and sensitivity. A total of 1678 serum samplesfrom the endemic region (Province Punjab, Pakistan) and a non-endemic area(Germany) were analysed. All sera tested positive or suspicious with CFT wereanalysed by the confirmatory IB to exclude CFT false positive results. Both CFTantigens showed 100% sensitivity. The use of CIDC or c.c.pro antigen resultedin specificities of 77.45% or 75.71% for sera from endemic area and 93.75% or94.79% for sera from non-endemic areas, respectively. The results demonstratethe different performances of identical tests in different epidemiologically settings.Based on these results, the combined use of CFT and IB is highly suggestivefor the serodiagnosis of glanders. Good agreement was calculated between CFT(using either c.c.pro or CIDC antigen) and immunoblot.  a0005-9366