Sci-Tech Laboratories is now able to offer a molecular diagnostic testing service specifically for veterinary surgeons and businesses involved in the pig industry.
Provided from Sci-Tech’s facility at Craven Arms, in Shropshire, the real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method is being used to detect DNA and RNA in bacteria and viruses from a variety of samples including tissue, swabs and pigs’ oral fluid.
This technology means the tests for organisms causing diseases such as swine influenza porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), and porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) are quicker and more specific.
Most existing culture tests rely on viable bacteria and viruses to enable the target organism to be grown and identified. However, the new tests offered by Sci-Tech can detect even very small numbers of non-viable (dead) micro-organisms that may not have shown up at all.
Furthermore, the tests can distinguish between the different groups and strains of bacteria such as the European versus North American strain of PRRS.
As well as greater diagnostic accuracy, another important advantage of the PCR test is that it can be completed very quickly, usually between 24 and 48 hours.
>> Â For more information call 01588 672600 or visit: www.scitech-labs.uk.com
