Significant economic losses can result from outbreaks of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED), a serious disease currently circulating in North American swine herds. Accurate and rapid detection of PEDv is essential to expedite implementation of control measures for the disease. A rapid PEDv test kit is needed for this purpose. Comparison of the DNA sequence targeted by the primers included in a current PEDv test kit to the sequences of North American PEDv strains showed potential suitability of these primers for detecting PEDv strains in the Canadian swine herd. This was confirmed in laboratory testing of 20 samples collected from pigs infected with PED, although the test results showed that the visual interpretation of test kit results can be somewhat ambiguous for some types of samples and can be further improved. While definitive results were obtained from most of the test samples, in a few samples the test results showed only slight visual differences between a positive result (indicated by a sky-blue colour) and negative results (indicated by purple or lighter blue colours). To improve the current test kit and to avoid ambiguity in interpreting the results, current work in collaboration with the developer of the original test kit included modifications such as using an alternative dye which would allow better colour differentiation between positive and negative results (yellow vs. pink/red colours). Further revisions such as reformulating reagents to dry format and modifying test sample preparation procedures are also being done. The improved test kit will then be re-tested in the laboratory, where its sensitivity, specificity, and repeatability will also be assessed. Afterwards, the performance of the improved test kit will be validated by field testing in PED-positive pig farms.
Testing of a rapid detection kit for Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) (full article)
