title: Rope-based oral fluid sampling for early detection of classical swine fever in domestic pigs at group level.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-invasive sampling techniques based on the analysis of oral fluid specimen have gained substantial importance in the field of swine herd management. Methodological advances have a focus on endemic viral diseases in commercial pig production. More recently, these approaches have been adapted to non-invasive sampling of wild boar for transboundary animal disease detection for which these effective population level sampling methods have not been available. In this study, a rope-in-a-bait based oral fluid sampling technique was tested to detect classical swine fever virus nucleic acid shedding from experimentally infected domestic pigs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Separated in two groups treated identically, the course of the infection was slightly differing in terms of onset of the clinical signs and levels of viral ribonucleic acid detection in the blood and oral fluid. The technique was capable of detecting classical swine fever virus nucleic acid as of day 7 post infection coinciding with the first detection in conventional oropharyngeal swab samples from some individual animals. Except for day 7 post infection in the "slower onset group", the chances of classical swine fever virus nucleic acid detection in ropes were identical or higher as compared to the individual sampling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With the provided evidence, non-invasive oral fluid sampling at group level can be considered as additional cost-effective detection tool in classical swine fever prevention and control strategies. The proposed methodology is of particular use in production systems with reduced access to veterinary services such as backyard or scavenging pig production where it can be integrated in feeding or baiting practices.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany. klaas.dietze@fli.de.
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6138-6707
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dietze
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tucakov
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wirtz
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Depner
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Globig
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kammerer
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Südufer 10, 17493, Greifswald Insel Riems, Germany.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mouchantat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006691:Classical Swine Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000662:veterinary*; D013552:Swine; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral
keywords: Backyard pig production; Group level; Hog cholera; Non-invasive; Rope-in-a-bait; Surveillance