Indian Journal of Veterinary Research (The)

Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) antigen was prepared from the Burkholderia mallei strain NCTC 3709 and Burkholderia cepacia and reacted with hyperimmune sera (raised against B. mallei in rabbit). RBPT antigen of B. cepacia showed agglutination with this hyperimmune serum in lower dilution (What dilution….). 12 guinea pigs divided into two groups, viz; Gr. I (n=9), sensitized with killed culture of B. mallei in incomplete Freund's adjuvant S/C; and Gr. II (n=3) as control. In serum samples, RBPT detected 4 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on day 21^st and 8 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on 28^th day while CFT detected 4 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on 14^th day, 7 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on 21^st day and 9 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on 28^th day while mallein test detected 7 of 9 sensitized guinea pigs on 28^th day. Agreement between RBPT and CFT was higher (0.800) in comparison to agreement between CFT and mallein test (0.636). The sensitivity of RBPT and mallein in guinea pigs was found 90% and 81.82%, respectively, considering CFT as standard