Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida College of Veterinary
Medicine tackled two tough research questions in a recent study. Is the use of antibody titer
testing practical for animal shelters, and if so, which test is the best choice?
Blood was taken from 431 dogs in a Florida animal shelter by researchers who then looked at
two tests, one the Synbiotics TiterCHEK, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
conducted in the shelter in less than one hour, and the other an indirect fluorescent antibody
(IFA) test, which was sent out to a diagnostic laboratory.
The in-shelter ELISA had fewer false-positive results than the IFA test, correctly identifying
dogs with protective antibody titers for canine parvovirus (CPV) 98 percent of the time, and
canine distemper (CDV) 95 percent of the time. The IFA test had only 82 and 70 percent,
respectively.
The implications of these results are important for shelters during outbreaks, because incorrectly
identifying a dog as not being protected from CPV or CDV could lead to that dog’s unnecessary
quarantine or even death, while at the same time potentially exposing a dog with no protection to
unnecessary risk.
From an award-winning poster presentation of the study given by Lauren Gray, Maddie’s®
Researcher, Class of 2013, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine:
Without the ability to determine antibody titer levels, shelter veterinarians may have no
way of knowing which dogs may be protected from disease during outbreaks. In the past,
this has led some shelters to depopulate, or euthanize all dogs that have been exposed to
sick dogs in the shelter. Proper utilization of antibody titer testing can empower shelter
veterinarians to triage dogs based on risk of contracting disease, meaning those that are
most likely protected can be saved.
The study abstract can be viewed, and a copy of the complete study purchased, here.
For more information on using titer tests in shelter populations, view the Maddie’s InstituteSM
webcast Saving Lives with Antibody Titer Tests with Dr. Ronald Schultz, Chair of the
Department of Pathobiological Sciences at School of Veterinary Medicine, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, one of the world’s leading experts on veterinary vaccines, virology and
immunology.