Watt Anne E, Browning Glenn F, Markham Philip F, Marenda Marc S
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010 Australia.
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010 Australia.
Vet Microbiol. 2020 Nov;250:108856. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2020.108856. Epub 2020 Sep 18.
Respiratory infections caused by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae have a large impact on commercial pig farms globally. As current vaccines have limited efficacy, animal care and air hygiene are critical for disease control. Here we used a Coriolis μ cyclonic air sampler and an A. pleuropneumoniae-specific apxIV gene qPCR assay to detect the organism. Air samples were collected into a liquid medium by the Coriolis μ sampler for A. pleuropneumoniae detection by plate culture and qPCR assay. The method was validated by comparing the Coriolis μ sampler and a plate impactor (Millipore Air-T) in a specially designed aerosolization chamber. Two commercial farms, housing pigs between 3 and 21 weeks of age, were tested. On one farm, A. pleuropneumoniae was detected in low numbers (1000 organisms/m air) by qPCR, but not by culture, from sheds containing 8, 12, 16, and 18 weeks-old pigs. To our knowledge this is the first successful detection of naturally aerosolised A. pleuropneumoniae in commercial farms with the Coriolis μ air sampler, potentially allowing the identification of sub-clinically infected populations of pigs in the field.
