Intervet/SP: New ELISA test checks PCV vaccination compliance
At the 6th International Symposium on Emerging and Re-emerging Pig Diseases, held in Barcelona, Spain, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health introduced BacuCheck, a simple ELISA test for confirmation of vaccination status with the company’s vaccine Porcilis PCV.
The test is an easy-to-use and value-added herd monitoring service for pig farmers and traders and was developed to be able to discriminate PCV2-vaccinated piglets from non-vaccinated animals. The test is also able to verify if the animals have received the full vaccine dose.
The test detects antibodies against baculomarkers which are used in the production of the structural capsid protein ORF2 component of the vaccine, and are thus able to differentiate between the field virus and the vaccine antigen. By using this laboratory test, piglet producers and traders are able to certify PCV2-vaccinated piglets as an additional quality stamp, thereby facilitating the building of trustful business relationships with feeding pig companies.
Test results
Alex Eggen, global technical director of the company’s Swine Business Unit, explains the scope and interpretation of the test: “Insufficient dosing will provide test results that indicate that pigs are not or not properly vaccinated […].”
He added that the test results are valid for this specific brand of PCV vaccine only. He said, “As the system was not tested on samples originating from pigs vaccinated with other PCV2 vaccines, BacuCheck can not reliably be used to control the vaccination status of animals vaccinated with vaccines other than Porcilis PCV.”
The company developed BacuCheck in collaboration with veterinary diagnostic laboratory Synlab vet, located in Leipzig, Germany.
The test has already been rolled out in Germany; a launch is imminent in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Spain. Other markets will see implementation before the end of this year.
Related websites:
• Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health
• Sixth International Symposium on Emerging and Re-emerging Pig Diseases
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