Investigation article published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

August 1^st, 2008

Nine viral diseases included in the World Organization for Animal Health list of notifiable diseases (former list A) were chosen for their contagiousness and high capacity of spreading to improve their diagnosis using new and emerging technologies. All the selected diseases--foot-and-mouth disease, swine vesicular disease, vesicular stomatitis, classical swine fever, African swine fever, bluetongue, African horse sickness, Newcastle disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza--are considered as transboundary diseases, which detection causes the prohibition of livestock exportation, and, thus, it leads to high economical losses. The applied diagnostic techniques can fall into two categories: (i) nucleic-acid detection, including padlock probes, real-time PCR with TaqMan, minor groove binding probes and fluorescence energy transfer reaction probes, isothermal amplification like the Cleavase/Invader assay or the loop-mediated amplification technology and the development of rapid kits for `mobile` PCR and (ii) antigen-antibody detection systems like simplified and more sensitive ELISA tests. Besides, internal controls have been improved for nucleic acid-detecting methods by using an RNA plant virus--Cowpea Mosaic Virus--to ensure the stability of the RNA used as a positive control in diagnostic real-time RT-PCR assays. The development of these diagnosis techniques has required the joint efforts of a European consortium in which nine diagnostic laboratories and an SME who have collaborated since 2004 within the European Union-funded Lab-on-site project. The results obtained are shown in this paper

Rodriguez B., Sanchez-Vizcaino JM., Uttenthal A., Rasmussen TB., Hakhverdyan M., King DP., Ferris NP., Ebert K., Reid SM., Kiss I., Brocchi E., Cordioli P., Hjerner B., McMenamy M., McKillen J., Ahmed JS. and Belak S.

Improved diagnosis for nine viral diseases considered as notifiable by the world organization for animal health

Improved diagnosis for nine viral diseases considered as notifiable by the world organization for animal health

	Servicio de Inmunología Viral y Medicina Preventiva (SUAT). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM).
	Department of Virology. National Veterinary Institute (DTU Vet). Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
	Department of Virology, Immunobiology and Parasitology. National Veterinary Institute (SVA).
	Department of Exotic Disease Control. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
	Veterinary Institute of Debrecen.
	Department of Research. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell Emilia Romagna (IZSLER).
	Department of Veterinary Science. Queen`s University Belfast.
	Veterinary Sciences Division (VSD). Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).
	Forschungszentrum Borstel (FZB).