Identification of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 2 by monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies in latex agglutination tests

Porcine pleuropneumonia caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (A. pleuropneumoniae) is a major problem in modern swine industry worldwide. At present 12 serotypes have been recognized (Nielsen 1990). Serotyping has been based upon capsule associated, heat-stabile antigens of polysaccharide (PS) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) nature. A variety of tests have been used for serotyping including slide agglutination (Mittal et al. 1982), immunodiffusion (Gunnarsson et al. 1978, Nielsen & O’Connor 1984), indirect haemagglutination (Mittal et al. 1983a) and coagglutination (Mittal et al. 1983b). Recent studies report on serotyping of A. pleuropneumoniae strains using monoclonal antibodies in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Lida et al. 1990, Nakai et al. 1990).