Real-time PCR testing for PEDV, PDCoV, and TGEV are all members of the swine coronavirus family. All three are RNA viruses that affect the animal's enteric system. In adult animals, symptoms can include severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and lethargy. In most adult cases, however, there is a little mortality associated with any of the three diseases.
Testing for PEDV and PDCoV prior to shipping animals and using semen doses from boars has become industry standard. The VDX lab, therefore, offers PEDV and PDCoV testing conveniently in one polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, with a same-day turnaround time. PCR is an extremely accurate, highly sensitive and fast test method that can distinguish between PEDV, PDCoV, and TGE.
The largest effect on the industry is seen in PEDV infection in neonatal piglets, making testing extremely important. Because of the violent nature of diarrhea caused by PEDV, these piglets succumb to dehydration very quickly and mortality rates can approach 100%. Currently, PEDV infection is considered to be most significant and consequential among the three virus infections. This is likely because, in 2013, the PED virus was newly introduced in the U.S. (presumably from China) and U.S. pigs had no defense against it. In the wake of PEDV sweeping the U.S. and causing massive losses due to neonatal piglet mortality, PDCoV emerged as an additional enteric coronavirus with significant consequences of infection. In addition, TGE virus is currently considered to be endemic to the U.S. and very few cases are reported.
To allow for the utmost confidence in test results, an internal control target in every well controls for the presence of PCR inhibitors. Many sample types are able to be used in testing for these enteric viruses: oral fluids and environmental samples (run individually) or fecal samples, fecal swabs, and body/genital wash samples (can be pooled or run individually). Due to the virus's enteric nature, there is no virus located in the blood, therefore serum is not a suitable sample type for testing.
