You have some good questions: which ADV test is the most accurate and which
will detect ADV the earliest?  The answer to the first one is debatable
since there has not been any published studies comparing the CEP test from
United to the ELISA tests from Avecon.  In my experience (using both tests
at the same time on 86 ferrets) the results were the same in 82 out of 86
samples.  That is 95% agreement with the CEP and ELISA (blood and saliva).
Yet 4 samples had positive CEP tests and negative ELISA (blood and saliva)
tests.  These 4 ferrets were later tested.  All 4 had positive CEP tests
and titers (256, 256, 4, and 4) from the U of Georgia.  These 4 were not
retested by ELISA when the titers were done this spring.  (In hind sight
I wish a had run the ELISA tests again to compare to.) Thus there may
take more time for the ELISA to become positive.  Maybe the CEP tests is
the better screening test because it may pick up a positive sooner than
the ELISA.  Again that is just my opinion on these tests.
 
Hope that helps,
Jerry Murray, DVM
[Posted in FML issue 3473]