TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of a commercially available point-of-care test for post weaning diarrhoea in pigs-a pilot study

AU - Jakobsen, Nadia

AU - Goecke, Nicole Bakkegård

AU - Pedersen, Ken Steen

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Background: Post weaning diarrhoea is expected to become an increasing problem in pig herds following the outphasing of medicinal Zinc Oxide. Currently, no equally effective substitute has been found and an increase in metaphylactic batch medication with antibiotics is expected. However, prudent use of antibiotics is needed to mitigate antibiotic resistance development and one option could be pre-treatment diagnostics. Employing a point-of-care test in a herd could provide fast diagnostics and help guide antibiotic treatment. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a commercially available point-of-care test for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F4, ETEC F18 and rotavirus in weaned pigs. Results: In total 115 diarrheic samples from two conventional herds were included in the evaluation of the Rainbow Piglet Scours test, which was compared to microbiological PCR analyses. The comparison yielded a diagnostic sensitivity, diagnostic specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 0.28, 0.99, 0.92 and 0.70 for ETEC F4, 0.40, 0.92, 0.91 and 0.45 for ETEC F18 and 0.67, 0.88, 0.91 and 0.61 for rotavirus. Conclusions: The point-of-care test yielded a low diagnostic sensitivity and a high diagnostic specificity for ETEC F4, ETEC F18 and rotavirus. Due to the high level of false negatives, the test cannot be recommended for individual diagnostics on pig-level.

AB - Background: Post weaning diarrhoea is expected to become an increasing problem in pig herds following the outphasing of medicinal Zinc Oxide. Currently, no equally effective substitute has been found and an increase in metaphylactic batch medication with antibiotics is expected. However, prudent use of antibiotics is needed to mitigate antibiotic resistance development and one option could be pre-treatment diagnostics. Employing a point-of-care test in a herd could provide fast diagnostics and help guide antibiotic treatment. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a commercially available point-of-care test for enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) F4, ETEC F18 and rotavirus in weaned pigs. Results: In total 115 diarrheic samples from two conventional herds were included in the evaluation of the Rainbow Piglet Scours test, which was compared to microbiological PCR analyses. The comparison yielded a diagnostic sensitivity, diagnostic specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 0.28, 0.99, 0.92 and 0.70 for ETEC F4, 0.40, 0.92, 0.91 and 0.45 for ETEC F18 and 0.67, 0.88, 0.91 and 0.61 for rotavirus. Conclusions: The point-of-care test yielded a low diagnostic sensitivity and a high diagnostic specificity for ETEC F4, ETEC F18 and rotavirus. Due to the high level of false negatives, the test cannot be recommended for individual diagnostics on pig-level.

KW - Enterotoxigenic E. coli

KW - Point-of-care

KW - Post weaning diarrhoea

KW - Rapid diagnostics

KW - Rotavirus

U2 - 10.1186/s40813-022-00292-9

DO - 10.1186/s40813-022-00292-9

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36503595

AN - SCOPUS:85144373615

VL - 8

JO - Porcine Health Management

JF - Porcine Health Management

SN - 2055-5660

M1 - 49

ER -