Tetracore introduces USDA-licensed real-time PCR test for detection of African swine fever virus

The Tetracore Real-Time PCR Test was validated for use on epithelial and serum samples

Tetracore announced the licensing of the VetAlert African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) DNA Diagnostic Test Kit by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB). It is the first USDA licensed diagnostic product for ASFV and is manufactured in the US, critical for a rapid response in the event of an ASF outbreak. Additionally, this diagnostic kit provides animal health first responders with a critical tool to mitigate the potentially catastrophic economic and animal welfare impacts of an ASFV outbreak.

The VetAlert ASFV DNA high-performance test Kit was developed by Tetracore scientists and will be commercialised and sold by Tetracore.

Tetracore evaluated contemporary ASFV viral sequences as well as sequences to the 24 known ASFV genotypes to design a new primer-probe set that was blended with our original test to create an updated ASFV rPCR, the VetAlert ASFV DNA Test Kit.

The updated test design was validated in studies with multiple study partners including: (1) Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal, Instituto Nacional De Investigaciones Agrarias (CISA-INIA, Spain); (2) The National Veterinary Institute (SVA, Sweden); (3) Sciensano (Belgium); and other International and US laboratories, where the test demonstrated equivalent performance compared to the reference test methods used by the study partners.