[Diagnosis of Babesia bigemina with the immunoperoxydase test].

An immunoperoxidase assay for the serological diagnosis of Babesia bigemina was developed. The antigen slides were prepared from B. bigemina-infected blood and stored at -20 degrees C. One hundred and sixty five sera were tested, comparing the immunoperoxidase assay to the indirect fluorescent antibody test. A coincidence of 95% was observed between both tests. For the immunoperoxidase assay, a relative sensitivity of 94.8%, a relative specificity of 95.5%, and a positive predictive value of 96.8% were calculated. The results demonstrated the efficacy of this technique for detecting antibodies to B. bigemina.