Geldhof, Peter

Van Colen, Steven

Vercruysse, Jozef

Vlaminck, Johnny

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

IVPS  Belgian  branch  meeting,  Ghent  -­  Belgium  (2012).      The  SERASCA-­TEST:  A  new  tool  to  detect  roundworm  infections  in  fatteners    Johnny  Vlaminck1,  Steven  Van  Colen2,  Vercruysse  Jozef1,  Peter  Geldhof.1  1     Department  of  Virology,  Parasitology  and  Immunology,  Ghent  University,  Salisburylaan  133,  B-­9820  Merelbeke,  Belgium.  2   AVEVE,  Animal  Nutrition,  Eug.  Meeusstraat  6,  B-­2170  Merksem,  Belgium.    Introduction:    The   pig   roundworm,  Ascaris   suum,   is   still   highly   prevalent   in  modern   pig   farms   (1).   The  main  reason  for  this  is  the  lack  of  appropriate  diagnostic  tools  to  detect  or  measure  A.  suum  infection  levels  on  a   farm.  The  detection  of   parasite  eggs   in   the   faeces  by   coprological   examination   is   hardly  ever  performed  in  practice  and  is  prone  to  false  negative  and  false  positive  results  (2).  Recording  white  spots  on   the   liver   however,   is   often   performed   but   is   subjective   and   possibly   underestimates   the   true  prevalence  of  A.  suum  on  a  farm.  This  leaves  the  farmer  and  veterinarian  with  little  information  on  what  the  actual  worm-­status  of  the  herd  is  and  how  this  is  evolving  over  time.  In  this  study,  we  describe  the  evaluation  and  usefulness  of  a  new  serological  diagnostic  tool  (SERASCA®-­test)  for  the  detection  of  A.  suum  infections  on  pig  farms.  Materials  &  Methods    The  SERASCA®-­test  used  in  this  study  was  essentially  used  as  described  by  Vlaminck  et  al.  2012  (1).  For  the  determination  of  the  cut-­off  and  the  sensitivity  and  specificity  of  the  test,  190  pigs  were  infected  twice  weekly  with  25  A.  suum  eggs  per  Kg  for  14  weeks.  Serum  and  faecal  samples  were  collected  at  week   7   and   14   p.i.   To   investigate   how   the   SERASCA®-­test   results   reflect   liver   damage,   30   blood  samples  were  collected  from  fatteners  during  slaughter  from  20  selected  pig  farms  and  the  number  of  affected  livers  from  that  batch  of  pigs  was  recorded.    Results:  Initial  validation  of   the  test  using  sera  of   the  experimentally   infected  pigs  demonstrates  that   the  SERASCA®-­test  is  able  to  detect  long-­term  exposure  to  A.  suum  with  a  high  sensitivity  and  specificity  (99.5%  and  100.0%  respectively).  Furthermore,  this  serological  technique  proves  to  be  more  sensitive  than   faecal   examination   on   week   7   and   14   (99.5%   and   100%   compared   to   59.5%   and   68.4%  respectively).  Furthermore,  when  white  spot  counts  from  recently  slaughtered  pigs  from  20  different  pig  farms   are   compared  with   their   respective  SERASCA®-­test   results,   a  marked   discrepancy   is   noticed  between  the  per-­centage  of  seropositive  pigs  compared  to  the  percentage  of  livers  that  are  affected  in  that  group  of  pigs.  Discussion:  The   results   presented   in   this   study   again   emphasise   the   fact   that   by   using   coprological  examinations  or  the  percentage  of  affected  livers  to  detect  A.  suum  infections  on  pig  farms,  a  severe  underestimation  of  the  actual  problem  is  possible.  The  SERASCA®-­test  evaluated  in  this  study  provides  pig  farmers  and  veterinarians  with  an  easier  and  more  sensitive  way  to  estimate  the  overall  infection  intensity   of  A.   suum   on   their   farm.   How   the   results   of   the   SERASCA®-­test   stand   in   relation   to   the  economical  parameters  of  the  farms  is  still  unknown  and  is  currently  under  investigation.    References:  (1)   Vlaminck  et  al.,  2012.  Vet  Parasitol  189:  267-­273.  (2)   Boes  et  al.,  1997.  Int  J  Parasitol  27,  833-­8.  	  

The SERASCA-TEST: a new tool to detect roundworm infections in fatteners

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7254456/file/7254481.pdf

The SERASCA-TEST: a new tool to detect roundworm infections in fatteners

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