Direct fluorescent antibody (
DFA or
dFA) (also known as "Direct immunofluorescence"
[1]) is a laboratory test that uses
antibodies tagged with
fluorescent dye that can be used to detect the presence of
microorganisms. This method offers straight-forward detection of antigens using fluorescently labeled antigen-specific antibodies. Because detection of the antigen in a substrate of patient sample (cellular smear, fluid or patient- inoculated culture medium) is the goal, DFA is seldom quantitative.
This is the main test used to detect rabies in animals and requires the examination of brain tissue.
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