Diagnostic Test | Pros | Cons | False Positives | False Negatives | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) | Widely available |
|
| Early in the course of acute disease | Acute and convalescent titers recommended |
Point-of-care immunochromatographic test for IgM antibodiesa |
| No numerical titer | Recent vaccination | Uncommon | Positive at low MAT titers |
Point-of-care ELISA for antibodies against LipL32b |
| No numerical titer | Vaccination | Early in the course of acute disease | Often negative with low MAT titers |
Laboratory ELISAc | Does not require live organisms | No numerical titer | Vaccination | Early in the course of acute disease | -- |
PCR assay |
| Not serogroup specific |
|
| Most useful when combined with serological testing |
Bacterial culture | Directly demonstrates presence of the organism |
| Organisms can be isolated from body fluids of healthy animals |
| Not often used clinically |
aZoetis WITNESS® Lepto bIDEXX SNAP® Lepto Test cDetects same antibodies as the SNAP® test |