Novel diagnostics for farm animals

The incidence of viral infection among Europe's farm animals is a cause for constant concern. The Multiplex PCR project was set up to develop novel nucleic acid-based diagnostics capable of detecting a number of viral pathogens from a single sample. The aim was to cut down on waiting times and associated costs.

Health

The project set out to develop a rapid multiplex PCR method for the simultaneous diagnosis of a number of viral diseases. Researchers had originally concentrated on the development of a multiplex combination covering five target viruses associated with reproductive disorders. These viruses included African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF), Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV), porcine parvovirus (PPV) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). However, initial efforts were unsuccessful and research concentrated instead on the development of conventional, gel-based multiplex PCR-assays. The targets were divided in two clusters; one assay was developed for ASF/CSF/ADV detection and one for PRRSV/PPV/ADV detection. In spite of the change of research direction, animal studies proved the ASF/CSF/ADV triplex product unsuccessful. In contrast, the research team from the Veterinary Institute of Debrecen in Hungary did isolate a suitable primer-set to detect the second cluster of viruses. The developed assay gave strong positive results with PRRSV, PPV and ADV clinical samples. The developed technology could significantly reduce processing times and aid viral disease diagnosis of extensive populations.