Introduction
Canine respiratory disease caused by contagious pathogens generally causes mild to moderate, self-limiting tracheobronchitis. However, virulent pathogens such as canine distemper virus (CDV), canine herpes virus-1 (CHV-1), and canine influenza virus (CIV) cause life threatening illness. Symptomatology is similar; etiology is often mixed and only expensive laboratory testing can differentiate pathogens. Delayed diagnosis contributes to pathogen dissemination and disease impact, while carriers cause persistence and recurrent outbreaks. Rapid, sensitive and specific, point of need pathogen detention would alleviate these issues.
Objective
Evaluate insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR) assays on the deployable device, POCKITTM (GeneReach) for point of need detection of canine respiratory pathogens.
Methods
Real-time PCR (qPCR) assays for CDV, CHV-1, CIV, canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV), canine adenovirus-2 (CAV-2), and Bordetella bronchiseptica serve as reference assays for a side by side performance evaluation of deployable device, POCKITTM. Limits of detection (LOD100) and clinical sensitivity were determined using pathogens and positive and negative samples (n = 60). Exclusivity testing demonstrates specificity.
Results
LOD100 for qPCR and iiPCR assays are at or below one infectious unit with nearly equivalent LOD100 attained on POCKITTM. Acceptable clinical sensitivity and specificity (S/S as percent) for POCKITTM are 98.5/100 for CIV, 100/100 for CDV, CHV, and CAV-2 and 96.7/96.7 for Bordetella and CPIV detection.
Conclusions
Rapid differentiation of pathogens such as CDV, CIV and CHV from self-limiting infections is of immediate need for veterinarians particularly those working with kennels, breeders and animals shelters. Results demonstrate exceptional performance of the deployable device POCKITTM in differential detection of canine respiratory pathogens.