In the past, in order to accurately determine the presence of pinworms in an animal has required a post-mortem direct exam.  With the introduction of RADIL's new PCR assay which tests for both Syphacia obvelata and Aspiculuris tetraptera, antemortem testing can now be performed with highly accurate results.  RADIL's Pinworm PCR assay is nearly as sensitive as the direct exam and has the advantage that the animal does not need to be euthanized for evaluation.  In studies, it was also more sensitive than either of the two antemortem tests (tape test and fecal float).

Pinworm by PCR evaluation will be available beginning December 1, 2009 as part of the Mouse Basic , Mouse Comprehensive and Rat Basic Fecal Panels, as a Helicobacter & Pinworm panel, or as a stand-alone assay.  For more information and pricing, please click here. 

At this year's National AALAS Meeting in Denver, Colorado, RADIL introduced a breakthrough serologic testing technology that will offer clients an increased level of results confidence for the most prevalent mouse and rat agents.  MFI² represents an advanced approach to serologic monitoring for laboratory animal pathogens, providing the highest level of diagnostic accuracy available.   By evaluating multiple antigens for each agent, primary and confirmatory testing now occur at the same time, saving time and increasing the predictive value of the final results.  Clients will begin seeing multiple antigens reported on case reports as of December 1, 2009.

For more information regarding MFI², please visit the Serology section of this site.

IMPACT: PCR-based Alternative to MAP testing 

Contamination of biological specimens, such as cell lines, hybridomas and tumor cells, with rodent pathogens can result in devastating outbreaks of disease in laboratory animals implanted with these materials and confounding and deleterious effects on tissue culture-based experiments.

The traditional method for testing biological specimens for murine pathogens has been the Mouse Antibody Production (MAP) test. The major disadvantage of MAP testing is the 6 to 8 weeks required to get results. To address this issue, our laboratory has developed the Infectious Microbe PCR AmplifiCation Test or IMPACT, which is a panel of PCR assays that detects murine pathogens. Comparison of IMPACT results with MAP testing results for representative DNA and RNA viruses indicated that the sensitivity of the IMPACT was equal or greater than that of MAP testing.

• Turnaround time for IMPACT results is 5 business days.
• The cost of testing by the IMPACT is markedly lower than commercial MAP testing.