Preface

A speedy and accurate identification of pathogens is of vital importance for the effective control and management of veterinary infectious diseases. Infectious agents have been traditionally identified with the use of various phenotypic procedures, such as morphological, biochemical and serological assays. However, the phenotypic diagnoses are usually slow and lack proper specificity and sensitivity. The revolutionary invention of the nucleic acid amplification technologies such as PCR allows the detection of pathogens at nucleic acid level, and has played an increasing role in the laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. PCR-based technologies offer the ability to detect a single copy of nucleic acid template with supreme sensitivity, specificity, speed and precision for the detection of pathogens. Furthermore, the recent advances in probe chemistries, availability of multiple fluorescent channels in the PCR machines as well as instrumentation automation have facilitated the development of quantitative PCR that provides a convenient platform for high through-put quantitation and differentiation of pathogens in clinical specimens of veterinary medicine.

We are very fortunate and honored to have international specialists as chapter contributors in their respective specialty of veterinary PCR diagnostics. Mrs. Salma Sarfaraz at Bentham Science Publishers is a constant source of encouragement and discipline for the production of this book. This book provides a reliable, convenient and comprehensive reference on molecular detection and identification of pathogens of veterinary significance. Chapter 1 (Loftis et al.) outlines the principles of real-time PCR, and chapter 2 (Marijke) describes a practical guiding standard that can be used in different steps of the design and validation of in-house developed real-time PCR assays. Chapter 3 (Lilenbaum et al. ) focuses on molecular diagnosis of veterinary bacterial infections, exemplified with Brucella sp., Leptospira sp., Mycobacterium bovis, Staphylococcus aureus and Mycoplasma sp. Chapter 4 (Shaheen et al.) provides valuable knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in microbial pathogens and the potential advantages and disadvantages of PCR-based methods. Chapter 5 (Li et al.) highlights the diagnosis of viral disease in livestock and companion animals with PCR, and Chapter 6 (Wu et al.) focuses on the application of real-time PCR for detection and differentiation of significant parasites in veterinary medicine and public health, exemplified in protozoa, helminthes and arthropods. In chapter 7, Gentilini et al. focus their attention on PCR applications for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer in pets which are already currently available, albeit not diffusely, at both academic and private laboratories around the world.