Prionics has strengthened its position in the farm animal diagnostics market by winning a tender for Classical Swine Fever in Spain. The tender issued by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture involves a test volume of 3 million Ceditest^® CSFV 2.0 tests for a period of one year.

Spain suffered an outbreak of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) between June 2001 and May 2002. The outbreak caused serious economic damage as a result of export restrictions imposed by the European Union to contain the spread of the causing virus (CSFV). Although CSF poses no threat to human health, it is a highly contagious viral disease of swine. Since the outbreak in 2001 and 2002 there have been no further major outbreaks of the disease in Spain. However, the disease has to be routinely monitored in Spain as well as in all other European countries in order to maintain a CSF free status.
To this end, the Department for Animal Health of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture issues a tender for CSFV tests each year. Prionics has been successful in securing the Spanish tender working in close collaboration with Ingenasa, its distribution partner in Spain. This success for Prionics enables the company to strengthen its position in the farm animal diagnostic market.

Highly specific test for detection of CSFV
The high quality of the Ceditest^® CSFV 2.0 was a prerequisite for the successful outcome of the Spanish tender. The test is highly specific, does not show cross-reactivity with related viruses and is extremely easy to use, with a simple protocol that consists of only three steps. Another important advantage of the test for use in surveillance programs is that the test effectively detects sub-clinical CSFV infections. Moreover, the test is highly reliable: results correlate completely with the gold standard for CSFV testing, the neutralisation peroxidase-linked assay (NPLA).