Comparison of immunohistochemistry and virus isolation for diagnosis of west nile virus

Immunohistochemistry and virus isolation were performed on 1,057 birds. Immunohistochemistry, virus isolation, or both found 325 birds to be West Nile virus positive. Of these, 271 were positive by both methods. These results indicate that virus isolation and immunohistochemistry are approximately equal in their ability to detect West Nile virus.