Case definition terminology for paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease)

BMC Veterinary Research

Table 1 Temporal applicability and accuracy of diagnostic tests for paratuberculosis in sheep and cattle

Test	Stage of disease when positive	Potential sensitivity^a	Potential specificity^b
Serum ELISA	Mid, late	Low to high^d	Moderate to high
Delated type hypersensitivity	Early, mid	Moderate to high	Moderate
Interferon gamma assay	Early, mid	Unknown	Unknown
Faecal smear	Mid, late	Low^e	Low to moderate
Faecal culture	Early^c, mid, late	Low to high^d	High
Faecal qPCR	Early^c, mid, late	Moderate to high^f	High
Tissue culture	Early, mid, late	High	High
Gross pathology	Late	Low to moderate	Low to moderate
Histopathology	Mid, late	Moderate to high	High
Clinical signs	Late	Low to moderate	Low to moderate

Adapted from Whittington and Sergeant (2001) [28] and Nielsen and Toft (2008) [30]. The terms low, moderate and high indicate ranges for sensitivity of <40%, 40–70% and >70%, respectively; corresponding values for specificity are <80%, 80–95% and >95%, respectively
^aProportion of truly infected/diseased animals that test positive
^bProportion of truly non-infected/healthy animals that test negative
^cTransient, for a few months commencing a few months after infection
^dHigh sensitivity possible in late stage of disease
^eDue to low analytical sensitivity
^fBased on sensitivity similar to culture in liquid medium

ISSN: 1746-6148