BARCELONA, Spain – Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the pig industry’s greatest disease challenge, but other highly contagious viral infections like swine coronaviruses, including the porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED) virus, also continue to place economic burden on pig producers.

Thermo Fisher Scientific presents results at the ESPHM, highlighting innovative diagnostic solutions designed to help protect the industry against the devastating economic impact associated with these disease-causing pathogens.

The two scientific posters presented include:

PRRSV surveillance: updated and efficient tools needed – The PRRS virus shows a high mutation rate, leading to greater heterogeneity of the nucleotide sequence between individual strains. In order to detect new circulating strains, it is necessary to monitor and identify new variants in PRRS field samples. Thermo Fisher works with industry key opinion leaders to collect and sequence circulating strains in 10 different European countries using the company’s sequencing workflows. The resulting information is used to update the Applied Biosystems VetMAX PRRSV EU & NA Kit design to cover circulating strains from all over Europe and the United States.

Evaluation of the VetMAX PEDV/TGEV/SDCoV Kit, a Multiplex Real-Time PCR Method for the Detection of Swine Coronaviruses. Three coronaviruses – PED virus, transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), and porcine delta coronavirus (SDCoV) – are pathogens of concern for causing gastrointestinal diseases in pigs. All three coronaviruses show similar initial clinical signs, but each require different treatments and remediation. The Applied Biosystems VetMAX PEDV/TGEV/SDCoV Kit* detects and differentiates the three coronavirus species in a single reaction mix. The kit tested favourably versus two competitor kits by consistently detecting all three coronaviruses with higher sensitivity than competitor tests in environmental, oral fluid and faecal samples. (*Commercially available for testing of food and environmental samples only).

“PPRS and PED place a major economic burden on the global swine industry. The results we present at ESPHM will not only demonstrate Thermo Fisher’s dedication to developing practical, accurate solutions for the swine industry, but also our desire to continuously validate and improve our kits,” said Martin Guillet, global head and general manager for AgriBusiness at Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“Our goal is to deliver on our mission to enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.”

For more information on Thermo Fisher’s diagnostic portfolio and to view the poster presentations, click here.