Production and evaluation of a panel of monoclonal antibodies against Haemophilus paragallinarum

We report on the production and characterisation of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against Haemophilus paragallinarum, the causative agent of infectious coryza. A bank of 8 MAbs were produced by traditional techniques –– four against the reference strain for Page serovar A (0083) and four against the reference strain for Page serovar C (Modesto). Seven of the eight MAbs were shown to be IgG1 with one being nontypable. None of the MAbs had HI activity and none gave any detectable reaction when examined by Western blotting. None of the MAbs gave a positive reaction in the indirect ELISA with any of the eight type strains of Pasteurella species or sub-species. None of our 8 MAbs gave serovar specific reactions when used in an indirect ELISA format. There was a trend for the serovar A MAbs to give a higher titre with serovar A isolates/strains and a similar trend for the serovar C MAbs to give higher titres with the serovar C isolates/strains.