ELISA using a recombinant chimera of ESAT-6/MPB70/MPB83 for Mycobacterium bovis diagnosis in naturally infected cattle.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) control programs generally rely on intradermal tuberculin tests for the antemortem diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection in cattle, but these tests detect only a portion of the infected animals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic coverage of a combination of the bTB antemortem techniques known as the comparative intradermal tuberculin test (CITT) and an ELISA based on a recombinant chimera of ESAT-6/MPB70/MPB83 as the antigen in cattle. The results were compared to postmortem findings based on M.