PERP-ID: On farm point-of-care diagnostic for the porcine respiratory disease complex

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Lung infections are responsible for substantial suffering, deaths, and economic loss in the UK and worldwide pig industry. Infections are caused by bacteria, viruses or a combination of the two. Control of lung infections is by the use of good farm practices (e.g., avoiding overcrowding), antibiotics and/or vaccines. However, antimicrobial resistance is a problem and there is a lack of effective vaccines for most pathogens, hence, pig lung infections are a substantial burden to the industry. For effective control, identifying the pathogens causing pig lung infections is crucial and dependent on diagnostic tests. However, current tests are slow - it can take many days to get the results back from the laboratory - and many tests are required, one for each bacterium or virus. At the request of extensive feedback from veterinarians, pork producers, farm managers, and policy makers, we have been developing a test that can rapidly and cheaply detect major bacterial and viral lung pathogens of pigs that can be used at the farm - a so-called a point of care test. The PorcinE Respiratory Pathogen-Identification (PERP-ID) device is designed to identify the five bacterial and three major viral lung pathogens of pigs, and is based on an electronic system developed by ProtonDx that can rapidly detect the presence of specific DNA molecules. Results can immediately be sent from the farm to local and/or global locations via a smart phone enabling fast remedial action at the farm, e.g., giving appropriate antibiotics. Initially, we will optimise PERP-ID with our collection of well characterised clinical samples, and then test it in the field with new samples by comparing its performance against currently used diagnostic tests. A successful field trial of PERP-ID will result in rapid and cheaper diagnosis of lung disease in pigs caused by bacteria and viruses, and result in a substantial reduction in suffering, death, antibiotic use, and economic losses in the UK and worldwide pig industry.