Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announced the China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center (Agricultural and Rural Department Slaughter Technology Center) has approved its real-time PCR-based workflow to detect and monitor the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The PCR method is the preferred detection technology now in use for the ASF outbreak currently affecting China.
Swine industry experts agree that countries need to be vigilant as the virus could be imported with feed, feed components or travelers. In the absence of vaccines, monitoring and control of ASF by diagnostic methods are crucial components of a control program. PCR-based diagnostic testing is designed to identify the virus by detecting its DNA, rather than antibodies that are generated against it, allowing earlier detection of the virus compared to other diagnostic methods.