THE USE OF PREPARED LATEX MICROBEADS FOR RAPID DETECTION OF BETA TOXIN OF CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS TYPE C IN CALVES

The objective of the present work was to develop a rapid test {Latex} for detection and typing of beta toxin of toxigenic Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) type C in calves, which is the etiological agent of enterotoxaemia for several animal species. Anti- beta toxin "hyper immune serum (HIS)" was prepared in rabbits for coating microbeads. Agar gel precipitation test (AG PT) and indirect enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (i ELISA) were used for detection and titration of the prepared HIS, respectively. Fecal samples were collected from 100 diseased and 20 apparently healthy calves of different age and sex.Moreover, samples from 60 internal organs (intestine, liver, kidney, lung and heart) were collected from slaughtered and dead calves. The samples were examined by using of antitoxin-coated latex microbeads using (sLAT), where 99 out of 120 examined fecal samples (82.5%) and 31 out of 60 samples of the internal organs, (51.7%) were positive. The results demonstrated the suitability and reliability of LAT as a rapid field test for monitoring of the beta toxin of toxigenic C. perfringens, type C in sudden death outbreaks since it is sensitive, rapid and easily used technique.