DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO YERSINIA ENTEROCOLITICA BY SINGLE RADIAL DIFFUSION-IN-GEL AND PEROXIDASE LABELLED ANTIBODIES

Sixty-nine sera with agglutinating antibodies to Y.enterocolitica were tested with a DIG-ELISA method using ethanol inactivated preparations of Y.enterocolitica (0:3 and 0:9). All sera with agglutination titer ≥ 1280 were positive of which 71% were positive for IgM and IgA. Sera having lower titers by the agglutination technique were usually positive only for IgG antibodies. By titer 160 70% were positive using a conjugate directed against IgG, IgA and IgM. Further investigations are necessary to determine the clinical implication of the antibody-response measured within these immunoglobulin classes.