Sheep and goats in Switzerland can now be tested for the presence of prions with the Prionics®-Check PrioSTRIP SR, as the test has received approval for the diagnosis of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) in small ruminants. The PrioSTRIP® SR scored excellent results in the evaluation conducted by the OIE Reference Laboratory in Switzerland and fulfilled all criteria required by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as a rapid post mortem test to detect TSE in small ruminants.
The Prionics®-Check PrioSTRIP SR was evaluated by the Neurocenter in Bern, the OIE National Reference Laboratory, and was recognized for testing all types of TSE in sheep with 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Based on the excellent performance of the test, the PrioSTRIP® SR received approval for testing small ruminants by the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office (BVET) on January 23rd, 2008.
Prionics is now participating with the PrioSTRIP® SR in a new open European Commission (EC) call for rapid tests for TSE monitoring, an extension of Annex X of EC regulation 999/2001. The Prionics test kit is pending approval by the European Union and NAFTA countries and is now only available there for research purposes.
Successful evaluation
The evaluation of the Prionics®-Check PrioSTRIP SR was supervised and conducted by the Neurocenter. Brain samples from classical scrapie (241), atypical scrapie (two sheep, one goat) and ovine BSE (7) were tested to assess the diagnostic sensitivity of the test. All positive samples were correctly identified resulting in a diagnostic sensitivity of 100%. A large number of negative samples, from both healthy slaughtered animals originating from New Zealand and fallen stock samples of sheep (156) and goats (44), were also correctly identified. “With this excellent performance, we are confident that the PrioSTRIP® SR is fit for the EC validation,” reported Andreas Keller, Product Group Manager TSE at Prionics.
