Streptococcus zooepidemicus PCR test for dogs
dog and cat assay data sheet
"Strep
zoo" in dogs
(hemorrhagic
streptococcal pneumonia)
Test code:
B0019 -
Qualitative detection of
Streptococcus equi subspecies
zooepidemicus by
polymerase chain reaction. This assay detects and differentiates
subspecies equi and
subspecies zooepidemicus.
B0019 is included
on
P0019 - canine respiratory panel
and
P0051 - dog show panel
Streptococcus
equi
subsp. equi is the etiological agent of strangles and is responsible
for nearly 30% of all reported equine infections worldwide (Chanter,
1997). The very closely related organism
Streptococcus zooepidemicus (S. equi subsp.
zooepidemicus) has also been found to be a significant
cause of equine lower airway disease, foal pneumonia, endometritis,
and abortion (Chanter, 1997). In dogs,
S. zooepidemicus is
associated with hemorrhagic streptococcal pneumonia (HSP) (Garnett et al., 1982). The HSP syndrome is a severe infection, in
which sudden death can occur without any prior clinical signs. In
general, dogs with higher S. equi
subsp. zooepidemicus
scores of infection were more likely to have severe alveolar damage (Chalker
et al., 2003).
In the past,
identification of S. equi
bacteria usually relied on culture of the bacteria, but this technique
is slow and not very sensitive. A recent study (Newton, 2000) has
shown that repeated nasopharyngeal swabbing and culture of
Streptococcus equi could
not detect the development of healthy carriers in more than 50% of
equine strangles outbreaks. S.
equi was sometimes not detected by culture of
nasopharyngeal swabs from carriers for up to 2 or 3 months before
nasal shedding resumed sporadically. The study found that PCR was a
more sensitive technique for detecting
S. equi on swabs: many
more known positive swabs were detected using PCR than using culture
(56 of 61 swabs positive by PCR vs. 18 of 61 swabs positive by
culture). Similar results were obtained for equine guttural pouch
samples from 12 established carriers (PCR 76% vs. culture 59%). PCR
also allows differentiation of the two subspecies,
equi and
zooepidemicus.
Utilities:
-
Help confirm the disease causing agent
-
Help ensure that dog populations are free of
Streptococcus zoopidemicus
-
Early prevention of spread of Strep zoo among a group of
dogs
-
Minimize human exposure to Strep zoo
-
Safety monitoring of biological products and vaccines
that derive from susceptible animals
References:
Chalker, V.J., Brooks, H.W. and Brownlie, J. (2003) The association of
Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus with canine infectious
respiratory disease. Vet Microbiol. 95:149-156. Chanter, N. (1997)
Streptococci and enterococci as animal pathogens. J. Appl. Microbiol.
Symp. Suppl. 83:100S-109S. Garnett, N.L., Eydelloth, R.S., Swindle,
M.M., Vonderfecht, S.L., Strandberg, J.D. and Luzarraga, M.B. (1982)
Hemorrhagic streptococcal pneumonia in newly procured research dogs.
J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 181:1371–1374. Newton, J.R., Verheyen, K.,
Talbot, N.C., Timoney, J.F., Wood, J.L., Lakhani, K.H. and Chanter, N.
(2000) Control of strangles outbreaks by isolation of guttural pouch
carriers identified using PCR and culture of Streptococcus equi.
Equine Vet J. 32:515-526.
Canine
specimen requirement:
Nasopharyngeal swab, or 0.2 ml whole blood in EDTA (purple top) tube.
Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.
For all specimen
types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during very warm
weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship with a cold pack
unless more stringent shipping requirements are specified. Frozen
specimens should be shipped so as to remain frozen in transit. See
shipping instructions for more
information.
Turnaround
time:
2 business days
Methodology:
Qualitative PCR
Normal range:
Nondetected
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