A Serological Survey on Swine Brucellosis Using Standard Procedures, Dot Blot, and Western Blot in Finisher Pigs in Central-North Italy

Fabrizio Bertelloni; Mario Forzan; Barbara Turchi; Simona Sagona; Maurizio Mazzei; Antonio Felicioli; Filippo Fratini; Domenico Cerri

doi:10.3390/vetsci5040086

A Serological Survey on Swine Brucellosis Using Standard Procedures, Dot Blot, and Western Blot in Finisher Pigs in Central-North Italy

Vet Sci. 2018 Oct 3;5(4):86. doi: 10.3390/vetsci5040086.

Authors

Fabrizio Bertelloni¹, Mario Forzan², Barbara Turchi³, Simona Sagona⁴, Maurizio Mazzei⁵, Antonio Felicioli⁶, Filippo Fratini⁷, Domenico Cerri⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. fabriziobertelloni@gmail.com.
² Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. mario.forzan@unipi.it.
³ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. barbara.turchi@unipi.it.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. simonasagona@tiscali.it.
⁵ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. maurizio.mazzei@unipi.it.
⁶ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. antonio.felicioli@unipi.it.
⁷ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. filippo.fratini@unipi.it.
⁸ Department of Veterinary Science, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124 Pisa, Italy. domenico.cerri@unipi.it.

Abstract

In recent years, Brucella suis has been sporadically reported in Italy in domestic and wild swine. Since standard serological tests can determine false positive results, the development of alternative tests with improved sensitivity and specificity is rather essential. We analyzed 1212 sera collected at slaughterhouse from healthy pigs belonging to 62 farms of North-Central Italy. Sera were tested by Rose Bengal Test, Complement Fixation Test, and subsequently by a Dot Blot (DB) and Western Blot assays (WB). Only one serum resulted positive to all tests, indicating that swine brucellosis has a very limited spread. DB and WB could represent a support to the available serological tests; however, further studies to validate these tests are needed. In the presence of reemerging diseases, a prompt and continuous monitoring design is necessary to acquire epidemiological information for the subsequent application of specific health emergency plans.

Keywords: Dot Blot; Western Blot; brucellosis; serology; swine.