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A longitudinal study comparing four diagnostic tests for Lawsonia intracellularis

Annick Saives1 Vincent Auvigne2 Xavier De Paz Solanes1 Susana Lapuente1
1. Elanco Europe, Brussels, Belgium; 2. EKIPAJ, Madrid, Spain

Introduction Fig. 1: Comparative results of the four tests

Lawsonia intracellularis (LI) is a major bacterial pathogen in pigs,
and is endemic worldwide. An accurate diagnostic is necessary for
a targeted preventive and therapeutic approach. Available tests
either measure the immune response or the faecal shedding. The
aim of the study was to compare the results of four of them.

Materials and Methods

The study was carried out between Dec. 2008 and Apr. 2009, on
a 300-sow breeding farm, with an all-in-all-out management
from weaning to slaughter. At weaning (21 days), 20 piglets were
randomly selected and individually double-tagged. Samples
(blood and faeces) were taken every two weeks between 3 and
21 weeks of age. The serological status was determined at the
LDG lab (Barcelona, Spain), using an IFA test (Ileitest, Elanco) and
ELISA test (Bioscreen) for LI. Faecal shedding was determined
at the CReSA laboratory (Barcelona, Spain) using in-house PCR
and at Labopat (Segovia, Spain) using FIRSTtest®. FIRSTtest® is a
new antigen ELISA which uses magnetic beads technology. All Discussion
results were qualitative. Doubtful ELISA results were considered
positive. In the absence of a gold standard, this study has not allowed
to reach a direct estimation of the sensitivity and specificity of
Results tests. Furthermore, different biological parameters were used for
the tests (immune response vs. faecal shedding). Nevertheless, it
All piglets remained in good clinical condition and could be fol- can be concluded that, under the study conditions, ELISA allows
lowed up during the entire study period. All methods confirmed better than IFA to determine the time of seroconversion. The
that the farm was contaminated by LI, although there was a results obtained by PCR is consistent with another longitudinal
difference in the percentage of positive animals and the evolu- study where PCR+ faeces were observed before ELISA serocon-
tion of the infection depending to the tests. Faecal LI shedding version (1). This inconsistency might be due to the presence
was detected by the FIRSTtest® from 5 weeks of age. Between of inhibiting factors in the faeces or to intermittent shedding.
weeks 7 and 19, nearly all piglets were positive, although shed- Finally, the FIRSTtest® seems a highly sensitive technique since
ding seemed to decrease by 21 weeks of age. PCR detected the shedding is detected as early as 5 weeks of age.
first excreting piglets by week 11, and shedding only became
widespread (> 40% of positives) at 17 and 19 weeks of life. Four These results might aid the veterinary practitioner in the choice
piglets were never found positive for PCR. ELISA only detected of test to be used in the field.
a few positive animals between 3 and 7 weeks of age, probably
animals with remaining maternal antibodies. This was followed References
by a massive seroconversion from 13 weeks of age. Between 1. Jordan D.M. et al. Vet. Microbiol (2004).104, 83-90
13 and 21 weeks of age, the ELISA negative piglets were not
systematically the same for all time points. The percentage of
animals positive for IFA evolved little during the study period
(minimum 30%, maximum 50%). However, two periods can be
distinguished: between 3 and 9 weeks of age, there is a large
variation between IFA test results of individual animals, from
one time point to another. In contrast, between 9 and 21 weeks,
there is little evolution in the IFA status of the individuals: posi-
tive animals remain positive and negatives remain negative.

Proceedings of the 21st IPVS Congress, Vancouver, Canada – July 18-21, 2010 698