Diagnosis of melioidosis by means of an ELISA detecting antibodies toPseudomonas pseudomallei exotoxin. Preliminary assay evaluation.

An ELISA system for the detection of human antibodies toPseudomonas pseudomallei exotoxin is described. Analysis of control sera and sera from patients with culture-positive melioidosis showed that both IgG and IgM antibodies to exotoxin were detectable in patients with melioidosis. This implies that the exotoxin is producedin vivo byP. pseudomallei, and may be involved in the pathogenesis of melioidosis. Furthermore, these rapid and simple assays may prove to be useful for the serodiagnosis of the disease.