MERS-CoV antibody testing
Altogether 148 serum samples from sheep (n=55), goats (n=45), and cattle
(n=48) were available in sufficient volumes to perform MERS-CoV antibody
testing. MERS-CoV spike protein-based immunofluorescence assay (IFA) was
done as described previously . Initial screening was performed with
sample dilutions of 1:40, retesting of putative positive (questionable)
samples was done with a dilution series of 1:10 – 1:320. Detection was
facilitated using 1:200 dilutions of donkey-anti sheep, donkey-anti
goat, or goat-anti bovine secondary antibodies, all labelled with Alexa
Fluor 488 (Dianova, Hamburg, Germany).