Screening your mice? Try our Mouse Essentials PCR Panel. All the most important mouse colony screening tests, all by expert real time PCR...

...or how about our new Mouse PCR Minipanel - PCR tests for only the most common mouse pathogens - for economical colony screening...

...and don't forget our Mouse Fecal PCR Panel - includes 9 important fecal pathogens.

And... just for rabbits: our new Rabbit Fecal PCR Panel tests for 3 common causes of GI problems in rabbits.

For wild rodent infestations, remediation and environmental monitoring, use our Rodent Infestation PCR Panel

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Zoologix also performs rodent and rabbit PCR tests for...

Aspiculuris tetraptera

Bordetella

BXV-1 virus

Campylobacter

Chapparvovirus

Clostridium piliforme

Coccidia

E. coli (enteroinvasive)

Ectromelia

EDIM

Encephalitozoon cuniculi

Encephalomyocarditis

Francisella tularensis

Fur mites

Hantavirus

Helicobacter

Human adenoviruses

Klebsiella pneumoniae

K virus

Lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus

Leptospira

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV)

Mites

Mouse adenoviruses

Mouse cytomegaloviruses

Mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)

Mouse kidney parvovirus (MKV or MKPV)

Mouse minute virus (MMV)

Mouse norovirus (MNV)

Mouse parvovirus (MPV)

Mouse polyoma virus (POLY)

Mousepox virus (aka ectromelia virus, EV or ECTRO)

Mouse rotavirus

Mycoplasma pulmonis

Mycoplasma screen

Pasteurella

Pinworms

Pneumocystis carinii

Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM)

Rabbit coronavirus

Rabbit fibroma virus

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus

Rat bite fever

Rat coronavirus

Reovirus screen

Reovirus type 3 (REO3)

Rotavirus

Salmonella

Sendai virus (SEND)

Seoul virus

Shigella

Sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV)

Streptobacillus moniliformis

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Syphacia muris

Syphacia obvelata

Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)

Tickborne encephalitis virus

Treponema cuniculi/ paraluiscuniculi

Tularemia

Tyzzer's disease

Whitewater Arroyo virus

Yersinia enterocolitica

Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis


Zoologix rodent PCR testing

ZOOLOGIX rodent and rabbit diagnostic testing

Why use PCR to detect infectious diseases of rodents and rabbits?

Molecular diagnostic testing using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) has revolutionized the way vivarium managers, veterinarians, researchers, zoos and animal care facilities maintain animal health and obtain disease data.

The sensitivity, specificity and speed with which pathogens and mutations are identified by PCR enable diagnostic, research and monitoring possibilities unavailable using other techniques. Molecular techniques represent a dramatically effective tool for the diagnosis of disease in valuable populations of rodents, rabbits and other animals.

In PCR testing, nucleic acid -- DNA or RNA -- is isolated from a specimen, then amplified (after an extra reverse transcription step in the case of RNA) using highly specific primers complementary to known target sequences. Positive and negative controls are run simultaneously; internal controls monitor extraction and PCR efficiency. Each sample is run in duplicate aliquots to check repeatability. Amplification is visualized and recorded using state-of-the-art protocols and instrumentation.

When should samples be collected?
Many pathogens shed intermittently. Therefore, for antemortem testing it is usually best to collect samples when an animal is symptomatic. Often pathogen titers spike early in a bout of symptoms, so ideally samples should be collected early in a bout of symptoms, and when symptoms are worst. It is possible for treatments to reduce symptoms and shedding temporarily but not entirely clear the infection. If treatment was administered, typically you should wait at least a week following treatment, and/or until symptoms return, before collecting a sample for testing.

How is molecular, PCR-based testing complementary to other kinds of testing?

  • Cross-reactivity reduces the specificity of many serological tests: a positive result can be caused by organisms other than the target. Molecular assays, on the other hand, are highly specific because they detect genetic sequence unique to the target pathogen. Even closely related pathogen strains can often be distinguished.
  • The influence of some sources of false positives is reduced in molecular testing, because while other testing methods detect antibodies to pathogens which may not still be present, molecular assays detect the genetic material of the pathogen itself -- a direct indication of presence of the pathogen in the sample.
  • Infections can often be detected by PCR very early in a bout of symptoms. Detection is not dependent on elevated antibody levels, which may take days or weeks to occur.
  • Animals with high titres of some viruses can actually exhibit very low antibody levels as their immune systems are challenged by an infection. This can result in false negative diagnoses if antibody testing alone is used.
  • PCR's exquisite sensitivity allows detection of a target pathogen in a sample even if present in very low titres, and even from very small sample volumes.
  • Many different sample types are appropriate for PCR testing - not just serum.  Check our assay datasheets for any test's sample requirements.

About Zoologix
Since 2004, Zoologix has served animal care professionals with molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases that affect rodents and other research, domestic and wildlife species. Other testing facilities perform PCR testing as a sideline. Because we specialize in PCR assays for infectious diseases of animals, our lab staff are adept at performing protocols designed to maintain specimen integrity and maximize assay specificity and sensitivity. We provide fast turnaround and competitive pricing in each of our assay categories.

As an independent, dedicated diagnostic laboratory not affiliated with any clinic or corporate conglomerate, Zoologix is free of incentives to bias results. Zoologix is owned and managed by board-certified scientists and seasoned laboratory managers with extensive experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, zoology, assay design, quality assurance and lab operations. Our objective is to provide to the veterinary and research communities the fastest, highest quality molecular infectious disease testing available.

Client samples are stored at our lab for six months to facilitate any followup testing.

Contact information
Zoologix is headquartered in Westlake Village, in southern California. We are located in the Conejo Valley biotech hub, near two major airports (LA International and Burbank), UCLA, USC, CalTech and other regional research centers.

ZOOLOGIX
725 Lakefield Rd, Suite H
Westlake Village  CA  91361
USA
1-818-717-8880

info@zoologix.com


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