Comparison of immunochromatographic rapid test withmolecular method in diagnosis of canine parvovirus

BACKGROUND: Canine parvovirus (CPV) infection is one of the most common causes of infectious gastroenteritis in dogs and is a highly contagious, often fatal disease. The original virus (CPV type 2) has had some mutations since its emergence and new variants (CPV-2a, 2b and 2c) have been reported from many countries all around the world. Early diagnosis and treatment can profoundly affect the disease outcome. OBJECTIVES:To comparethe ability of Immunochromatographic (IC) test to detect CPV infection in 50 PCR positive samples (n=50) with regard to virus strains. METHODS: 50 rectal swabs (n=50) were prepared from suspicious dogs and subjected to PCR and IC test respectively. RESULTS: The sensitivity of IC test in PCR positive samples was 84% (42 out of 50 samples) and the positive predictive value of the test was 100%. Using PCR, CPV strains in our study were 2a (18/50, 36%) and 2b (32/50, 64%) with the predominance of 2b strain. IC test was also able to diagnose 15/18 (83.3%) of CPV- 2a and 27/32 (84.3%) CPV-2b strain positive samples, which means IC test can detect CPV infections caused by both virus strains (2a and 2b), without significant difference. CONCLUSIONS:This study shows that IC test results are relatively reliable for diagnosing CPVinfection in daily veterinary practice and the test is able to diagnose both CPV-2a and CPV-2b which are prevalent strains in Iran