Mississippi State DVMs Claire L. Fellman and Todd Archer provide a brief introduction to immunodiagnostic tests, including immunofluorescence assays, ELISAs, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.
The underlying principle of immunologic testing is antigen:antibody specificity.
Source: Clinician’s Brief, May 2017. Link.
Although antibodies can be used to detect antigens, they are much less sensitive than PCR, and antibodies are not available for every animal pathogen.
INSIGHTS: This is a solid review of immunologic testing that can help animal health pros review and understand the language and methods of diagnostic tests used in the discovery of various diseases.