Abstract
BackgroundWe examined the performance of four in-clinic Giardia diagnostic tests by comparing results to three laboratory methods for detection of Giardia. A set of 177 fecal samples originally submitted to a commercial laboratory by veterinarians for routine ova and parasite (O&P) testing was used. Specimens were examined by direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA) for presence of Giardia cysts which served as the gold standard. Fecal samples were tested using a Giardia-specific cyst wall antigen microtiter plate format enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and each of the in-clinic assays adhering to the package insert for each kit.ResultsEvaluated were four in-clinic antigen test kits: VetScan® Canine Giardia Rapid Test (Abaxis), Anigen® Rapid CPV-CCV-Giardia Antigen Test (BioNote), SNAP® Giardia Test (IDEXX) and Witness® Giardia Test (Zoetis). In the comparison of the in-clinic tests to the DFA standard test sensitivity ranged between 70.0–87.1%, and specificity ranged between 71.1–93.4%.ConclusionOf the tests evaluated here, the SNAP test had the highest sensitivity and specificity. The SNAP test had the highest percent positive and percent negative agreement when compared to the microtiter plate format ELISA and the O&P assay.
Highlights
We examined the performance of four in-clinic Giardia diagnostic tests by comparing results to three laboratory methods for detection of Giardia
Canine samples Fecal samples were sourced from IDEXX Reference Laboratories (IRL) by the sole criterion that they were submitted by practicing veterinarians for general ova and parasite (O&P) testing which was performed at the reference laboratory using Zinc sulfate flotation solution (ZnSO4) centrifugal floatation
direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA), O&P and microtiter plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results The final sample set consisted of 177 samples; all were examined by DFA and by microtiter plate format ELISA
Summary
A set of 177 fecal samples originally submitted to a commercial laboratory by veterinarians for routine ova and parasite (O&P) testing was used. Specimens were examined by direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA) for presence of Giardia cysts which served as the gold standard. Giardia can be identified in feces by visualization of whole cysts by microscopy using zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) fecal floatation [ova and parasite (O&P) test], by direct immunofluorescence (DFA) using Giardia-specific fluorescent antibodies or by demonstrating the presence of Giardia-specific antigen in feces using an immunoassay [4–6]. Direct immunofluorescence assay has been shown to be more sensitive and specific than conventional flotation methods and served as the gold standard method for identifying fecal Giardia [5, 8, 9]. The DFA requires a fluorescent microscope limiting its usefulness in-clinic
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