3 July 2009 - Enigma Diagnostics has announced successful independent testing for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency to evaluate the performance of the Enigma FL.
BVD is considered to be one of the main threats to cattle, affecting the majority of herds in the UK.
It is closely related to classical swine fever virus, a serious disease of pigs, and to border disease virus, which infects sheep.
The Enigma FL (field laboratory) instrument was used to analyse more than 100 blood samples that had already been screened by antigen Elisa and a laboratory-based RT-PCR for the presence of the BVD virus.
Approximately half of the samples were proved BVD positive by the laboratory-based PCR.
With the level of concordance between the two tests being above 97 per cent, this confirmed the Enigma FL system can produce laboratory-standard results with a high degree of confidence.
The Enigma FL has been designed for easy operation.
Tests are provided in a single-use cartridge that can be stored at room temperature.
The Enigma FL provides a PCR result in less than one hour, a timescale needed to allow field-based and 'pen-side' diagnosis.
On-site testing removes delays from transport of samples to the laboratory, which can often take days.
The system requires minimal training and its utility for pen-side testing for BVD has already been demonstrated.
