Detection of Lawsonia intracellularis in swine feces by polymerase chain reaction

돼지분변에서 PCR에 의한 Lawsonia intracellularis 검색

Swine proliferative enteritis(SPE) caused by inかsoma intracellularis is a common enteric disaese of grower and finisher pig. Swine affected with SPE show variable clinical signs including diarrhea, weight loss, aberrant growth and death. The characteristic lesion of ileitis at necropsy is marked thickening of the last section of the small intestine. The inner lining of the thickened intestine proliferates almost like a cancer and curved rod bacteria(L intracellularis) are always seen inside the intestinal wall. Infected swine shed the organism in the feces. Isolation and growth of pure L intracellularis in vitro requires a suitable cell culture. This procedure is difficult and not a practical means of diagnosis, thus the polymerase chain reaction(PCR) test of feces can be used to determine whether a pig is shedding the infective organism. A sensitive assay based on amplification of a 319bp DffA fragment of the L intracellularis of Swine proliferative enteritis was attempted for the detection of the organism in the 62 feces of swine. L intracellularis was identified on three herds and detected in 6 fecal samples, representing a infection rate of 9.7%. The PCR was very sensitive and specific on the individual level. The PCR technique could be very useful for the diagnosis of this disease.