2013111111111111

UpdateUpdateUpdate

GD health Coursesnew oral fl uid tests and neW inFlUenZa strain

GiQs: association for international cooperation

GD animal health service

Custom made animal health solutions

GD Profi ciency testing schemes

R&D

Veterinary laboratory

GD Diagnostics

Consultancy

www.gddeventer. com

GD Animal Health Service

GD1452 Advertentie 1.indd 1 24-05-12 15:47

04 New oral fluid tests and new influenza strain

05 PARR: a PCR-based test for unravelling canine lymp-hoproliferative disorders

06 GIQS: association for in-ternational cooperation

07 GD Health Courses

08 News & communicationsMultiple roles, one goalOne of the aims of GD Update is to introduce you to the many roles GD plays in the field of animal health. We are a researcher and developer, but also a service provider, an advisor, a partner and an entrepreneur. In every edition we try to show some of these facets.

This GD Update focuses specifically on GD’s role as developer. In our veterinary-diagnostic laboratory, we not only carry out millions of tests a year, but we also develop and validate many new tests. For example, last year GD introduced several tests for use in the oral fluids of pigs (Happy Bite). So far, PCR and ELISA tests have been validated for PRRS and PCV2. New tests are coming shortly. Meanwhile a new H1N1 Influenza strain has been discovered in pigs. Will this impede the introduction of new tests? You can read more one page 4. On page 5 you can read about a new PCR-based test GD developed for unravelling canine lymphoproliferative disorders.

This GD Update also looks at GD’s role as an inter-national partner. On page 6, we explore the work of GIQS, a major network for scientific research in the agriculture and food sector. GD has been a member for more than 10 years and has participated in at least four international projects.

Finally, on page 7, you can read more about one of the ways in which GD fulfills its role as advisor by organ-izing Health Courses. Thanks to the many specialists working at GD, we have been providing Health Courses to participants from across the world for many years, much to their satisfaction.

In all of GD’s roles, we always keep one goal in mind, and that is our aim of contributing to improving ani-mal health in the interest of animals, all stakeholders in the food chain and society as a whole.

Jan Jansen, PhDMANAGING DIRECTOR

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Phone In the Netherlands 0900-1770, Outside the Netherlands +31 (0)570-63 33 91 Fax + 31 (0)570-63 41 04 | e-mail info@gddeventer.com | Website www.gddeventer.com | mail aDDress GD, P.O. Box 9, 7400 AA Deventer, the Netherlands | Delivery aDDress For samPles anD Post mortem material GD, CDM, Arnsbergstraat 7, 7418 EZ Deventer, the Netherlands.

Eveline Peereboom –

de Haan, BSc

Account manager

Pharmacy

Madelon Bolderman,

MSc

Account manager

Feed

Annemiek Kolkman -

Slothouber, BSc

Product sales manager

Diagnostics and PTS

Ton de Gee,

DVM PhD

Manager international

projects

CONTACT iNfOrMATiONIf you want to know more about what GD can do for you, please contact one of our staff members, responsible for international sales:

Custom made animal health solutions

GD Profi ciency testing schemes

R&D

Veterinary laboratory

GD Diagnostics

Consultancy

www.gddeventer. com

GD Animal Health Service

GD1452 Advertentie 1.indd 1 24-05-12 15:47

GD Update | April 2013 | 3

New oral fl uid tests and new infl uenza strain

oral fl uid testsBack in 1986 in the US, a test was developed to detect antibodies against HIV in human saliva. This proved to be very successful, so soon other tests followed for several hepatitis viruses, measles, mumps and rubella. In recent years, tests have been developed for use in pigs. Although the amount of antibodies in oral fl uids differs from that in blood, and potentially disturbing factors like enzymes and bacteria are present, oral fl uid testing has already proven to be a reliable tool. If samples are stored under cooled conditions, antibodies and pathogens can easily be detected. However, it is essential to validate antibody tests (e.g. ELISA tests) and antigen tests (e.g. PCR tests) thorough-ly. Tests should be made suitable for use in oral fl uids and the results should be compared to results of serological tests. An important consideration is that, with oral fl uid tests, almost always groups of animals are investigated, whereas serological tests mostly involve individual ani-mals. In fact, collected oral fl uids are pooled samples. So far, GD has established that its PCR and ELISA tests for both PCV2 and PRRSV in oral fl uids are very reliable.

Currently GD’s R&D department is putting a great deal of effort into validating ELISA tests on several other patho-gens for respiratory diseases like Mycoplasma hyopneumo-niae, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Infl uenza virus, and also PCR tests for Infl uenza (general and subtypes). Preliminary results are very promising, so GD expects to be able to offer oral fl uid tests for these pathogens later this year.

new infl uenza h1n1 – new tests?Sometimes unexpected but interesting challenges can occur. Last autumn GD discovered a new H1N1 Infl uenza strain in the Netherlands, a fi nding with potential con-sequences for test panels. On some Dutch farms, fi nisher pigs suffered from Infl uenza-like respiratory symptoms. However, serological tests with the available haemagglu-tination inhibition tests (HI) on the three known strains H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 all revealed negative results. On post mortem investigation, the pigs showed pathologi-cal lesions characteristic of an Infl uenza infection, and PCR tests were positive. This Infl uenza virus was then characterised as a thus far unknown H1N1 strain in the Netherlands. The strain is quite different from the one that is used in the regular HI test at the GD laboratory. However, the newly discovered strain still belongs to the classic European H1N1 cluster and not to the pandemic H1N1-2009 cluster or the H1N2 group. GD has subsequently developed a new HI test and the above-mentioned diseased animals showed signifi cant antibody titres and seroconversion with this new test. By now the new HI test is incorporated in the test panel.

Happy Bite: the easy way to test for pathogens in pigs by investigating oral fl uids.

In 2012, GD Animal Health Service introduced several tests

for use in the oral fl uids of pigs (Happy Bite).

So far, PCR and ELISA tests have been validated for PRRS and

PCV2. New tests are coming shortly. Meanwhile a new H1N1

Infl uenza strain has been discovered in pigs in the Nether-

lands. Will this impede the introduction of new tests?

4

TESTS | CoPy: THEO GEUDEKE, PHD, AND TOM DUINHOF, MSC

Parr: a PCR-based test for unravelling canine lymphoproliferative disorders

Unravelling nodal or extranodal lymphoproliferative condi-tions frequently represents a diagnostic challenge for veterinary pathologists. Until now, they had to rely on cytology, immunocytology, histology and immunohisto-chemistry to solve this differential diagnosis. Whereas the combination of histopathology and immunohistochemistry is a powerful tool to accurately assess the neoplastic or reactive nature of a lymphoproliferative condition in a sig-nificant percentage of such cases, the essence of lymphoid neoplasia, i.e. the clonal expansion of neoplastic lymphoid cells, cannot be proved by this microscopic approach.

GD’s new PARR test for formalin-fixed and paraffin-embed-ded tissues will supply additional information about the clonal (i.e. neoplastic) nature of lymphoid cells, or the polyclonal (i.e. reactive) nature of lesional lymphoid cells.

basics of ParrPARR is the abbreviation of PCR for antigen receptor rear-rangement. Antigen receptor rearrangement represents a crucial phase in the biology of B-cells and T-cells, since this process enables the generation of the antigen receptor diversity that is a hallmark of the lymphoid system. This diversity is generated through recombinations in the DNA that encode the immunoglobulins in B-cells and the T-cell receptor (TCR) in T-cells. PARR for B-cell probing is based upon recombinations that occur in the V, D and J genes that encode the antigen-binding sites of the immunoglobu-lin heavy chains (IgH), whereas in PARR for T-cell prob-ing the DNA segments that are a result of V and J genes recombinations for the gamma-TCR gene are amplified. The resulting PCR products are best visualized by capillary electrophoresis.

sensitivity and specificity of ParrGD’s PARR is based upon the latest information on primer sequences. The PARR has been tested and validated and the overall specificity is 90%, and sensitivity 92%. It will generate results even when small lymph node Tru-Cut biop-sies are used as DNA source. Inherent to these sensitivity and specificity data, it is therefore always prudent to in-terpret PARR data in combination with other findings, such as history, histopathology and immunohistochemistry.

Lymphoproliferative disorders represent a significant clinical problem in dogs.

Lymphoproliferative disorders

re present a significant clinical

problem in dogs. It is crucial to

differentiate neoplastic lymphoid

disease; i.e. the lymphomas and

leukaemias from reactive, hyper-

plastic lymphoid conditions.

Recently, GD developed a new PARR

test which makes this differentia-

tion possible.

additional information about our Parr testPlease feel free to contact us via email if you need ad-ditional information about the test, price and lead time:

Jeanine Brussee, Doctor of Veterinary Medicinej.brussee@gddeventer.comJudith Hofland, Market manager companion animalsj.hofland@gddeventer.com

GD Update | April 2013 | 5

CoPy: EVERT VAN GARDEREN, DVM PHD DIPL. ECPHM | TESTS

GiQs:association for international cooperation

In these 10 years, GD has participated in at least 4 large international GIQS projects, including the development of a system to collect swine herd management data which was up till then only gathered on paper. By developing an OCR (Optical Character Reading) based form, these data could be put in a database to be analysed. Within this project, standard operating procedures were also devel-oped to advise farmers on certain illnesses.

early warning system for swine feverA second project involved developing an early warning system for Classical Swine Fever based on fallen stock numbers. Using these numbers a response time could be obtained that was comparable to reporting by swine farmers and veterinarians. The advantage of this system was that it was independent of the willingness to report suspected outbreaks. One drawback was the operational costs of such a system.

mrsaIn a large international study (called ‘SafeGuard’) involv-ing many partners, multiple animal species and humans,

GD participated in a longitudinal study on MRSA in pig farms, at both animal and herd level.

monitoring weaned pigsIn another part of the same SafeGuard project, GD partici-pated in the development of a quality-assured monitoring system for weaned pigs. The aim of this project was to establish advice on the uniform health status of weaned pigs destined to be sold to fattening farms. This was done in collaboration with the animal health services in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony and with the help of several veterinary laboratories.A spin-off of the monitoring project was the development of proficiency testing schemes (ring trials) for PCRs for Circovirus (PCV2), Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Lawsonia intracellularis. The first two where developed by GD, the last of these was developed by BioScreen in Hanover.

Checklists for salmonella risk factorsFinally, GD was involved in the development of web-based checklists for Salmonella risk factors in both finishing farms and slaughterhouses as well as in cutting plants. A weighing system for the questions enabled the evalua-tion of companies both over time (repeated checks) and between companies within the same category.

Financing and coordinationMany of these projects were financed by the EU or its EU-region offices. Co-financing came from national govern-ments, the German federal government and provinces in the Netherlands. GIQS coordinated all of these projects, both technically and financially. More information, and its many international projects, can be found at www.giqs.org.

Peter van der Wolf, veterinarian at GD Animal Health Service,

has been a member of the GIQS board for more than 10 years.

GIQS is an international association that aims to stimulate,

initiate and coordinate international projects in the field of

quality improvement in agriculture. GD Animal Health Service

has been a member for more than 10 years.

more about GiQsGIQS stands for “Grenzüberschreitende Integrierte Qualitätssi-cherung”, which is German for Cross-boarder Integrated Quality As-surance. Members are the Universities of Bonn, Wageningen, Warsaw, Göttingen and “Hochschule Rhein-Waal”, public agricultural authori-ties like “Landwirtschaftskammer NRW and Niedersachsen”, several swine production integrations like EGO, EZG and EGR in Germany, animal health services in Germany and the Netherlands, VION food group, and several SMEs, both in Germany and the Netherlands.

6

iNTErNATiONAL PrOJECTS | CoPy: PETER VAN DER WOLF, PHD

GD health Courses

The aim of the GD Health Courses is to provide attendees with the most recent scientific insights and practical expertise. The training sessions are organized by GD’s Pharmacy Department, which focuses on the development and execution of test methods and studies compliant with internationally accepted regulations. Also, the Pharmacy Department is specialised in providing advice in this field.

GD: expert partnerThanks to the team of specialists working at GD, the GD Health Courses have been organized for years with great satisfaction of attendees. GD has veterinarians, scientificresearchers and specialised staff members. All expertise acquired is utilised when studies are set up and executed, scientific articles and reports are written and when GD is participating in international conferences and lectures. GD has modern state-of-the-art facilities for carrying out tests and studies.

Wide range of GD health CoursesCourses can be compiled at any desired level. The subject of a course can be broad, treating a number of diseases associated with one particular animal species, or more specific, with only one organ system of a certain animal species being studied. Each course is supplemented with expertise from different professional fields (for instance bacteriology, immunology and histology). Cases provide participants with useful tips and hints to apply in their profession. At completion of the course all attendees receive a certificate of participation.For groups of 10 persons or more, GD can prepare a cus-tomized course in the field of certain animal diseases for one or more species. The training sessions take place at GD, however on-site courses are also possible.

More information: Eveline Peereboom - de Haan, Key Account Manager Pharmacy, pharma@gddeventer.com

On site demonstration by Klaas Peperkamp (veterinary pathologist at GD) of organs from pigs with and without pathological changes.

Training session at GD.

Globally, there is a huge demand for animal health courses. For many years, GD Animal Health

Service has been a valued partner in providing courses on pig, poultry and cattle health.

GD Update | April 2013 | 7

CoPy: EVELINE PEEREBOOM, BSC | EDUCATiON

GD AT THE WAVLD 2013 GD Animal Health Service is one of the sponsors of the 16th International Sympo-sium of the World Association of Veteri-nary Laboratory Diagnosticians (WAVLD) that will take place in Berlin from June 5-8, 2013. Experts from all over the world will meet in the Estrel Hotel & Conven-tion Center. We look forward to meeting you there. If you would like to make an appointment to meet us in Berlin or if you would like to receive more information, please send an email to annemiek Kolkman, a.kolkman@gddeventer.com.

We are proud that the WAVLD Board of Directors has voted unanimously for Dr. Gerard Wellenberg to succeed Dr. Gerrit Borst on the Board. Gerard Wellenberg is a senior scientist in Molecular Biology & Virology at GD Animal Health Service. He is also active as veterinary consultant in national and international projects.

Dr. Gerard Wellenberg,

senior scientist at GD,

will be a member of

the WAVLD Board of

Directors.

PTS PrOGrAMME, JUNE–OCTOBEr 2013

TUrNKEY LAB PrOJECTGD has developed a new product for companies and organizations that want to establish a veterinary diagnostic labora-tory. Together with our partners we offer a turnkey project for the establishment of a laboratory, including training laboratory personnel and fi eld support staff, such as veterinarians. We assist with the design of the laboratory and supply high-quality fur-niture and equipment. The project is adapt-able to a client’s specifi c requirements.The project may be limited to a small labo-ratory with limited tests, but might also consist of a large laboratory with several disciplines, automated processes and the requirement to obtain quality accreditation.

Upgrading and renovating existing labora-tories are also options.Please contact Gerard Wellenberg (g.wellenberg@gddeventer.com) if you want a partner for the establishment of a veterinary laboratory equipped to meet all your requirements.

Cat. no GD PTSClosing date

for registration

Shipment of

the samples

Submission

of test results

Final report

+ certifi cate

JUNE

VLDIA172*PTS for Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV)/

Gumboro antibody detection in serum

11 July

2013

Week 30

2013

30 August

2013

Week 40

2013

VLDIA219*PTS for Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) antibody

detection in serum

VLDIA235*

PTS for Small Ruminant Lentiviruses (SRLVs)/

Maedi Visna Virus (MVV)/Caprine Arthritis

Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) antibody detection

in serum

JULY

VLDIA255*PTS for Avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV)/Turkey

Rhinotracheitis (TRT) antibody detection in serum

15 August

2013

Week 35

2013

04 October

2013

Week 45

2013VLDIA277*

PTS for Avian REO Virus (ARV/REO) antibody

detection in serum

VLDIA292PTS for Infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT)

antibody detection in serum

AUGUST

VLDIA232*PTS for Avian Infl uenza Virus (AI) antibody

detection in serum

19 September

2013

Week 40

2013

08 November

2013

Week 50

2013VLDIA233*

PTS for Salmonella (SA) antibody detection in

chicken serum

VLDIA171*PTS for Salmonella (SA) antibody detection in

porcine serum

OCTOBEr

VLDIA291

PTS for Brachyspira hyodysenteriae detection

in porcine feces via Nucleic acid Amplifi cation

Techniques (NAT) e.g. PCR24 October

2013

Week 46

2013

13 December

2013

Week 4,

2014

VLDIA295PTS for Swine Infl uenza Virus (SIV) antibody

detection in serum

* offi cially accredited according to the international guideline ISO 17043:2010

In addition to the regular use of internal controls, laboratories should participate in inter-laboratory comparison or Profi ciency Testing Schemes (PTS). Participation is one of the requirements of the ISO 17025 guideline for laboratory quality systems. GD Animal Health Service is formally accredited

according to ISO 17043:2010 for the organi-zation of PTS for antibody detection. Below you will fi nd our PTS programme from June–October. Please go to www.gddeventer.com for the online PTS application form. Feel free to contact us via email: pts@gddeventer.com

MOrE iNfOrMATiON?on our website www.gddeventer.com you will fi nd information about our products, services and various GD projects as well as the latest infor-mation about submitting samples to GD. Furthermore, we have an e-letter to keep you informed about new tests, recent publications by GD em-ployees, profi ciency testing schemes and much more. you can register for our e-letter on the website.

GD, Po box 9, 7400 aa Deventer, the netherlands, t. +31 570 63 33 91, F. +31 570 63 41 04www.gddeventer.cominfo@gddeventer.com

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