Meat juice as diagnostic sample for virological and serological diagnosis of classical swine fever.

The objective of this paper was to assess if meat juice is a suitable substrate for virological and serological diagnosis of classical swine fever (CSF). Fifty-six domestic pigs and 21 wild boars experimentally vaccinated and/or infected as well as 129 field samples from wild boars were involved in this study. Meat juice from diaphragm, forequarter and hindquarter was used for investigations. CSFV and viral RNA were detected in meat juice between days 5 and 21 post infection (pi). Animals which had survived the infection were diagnosed virologically negative and antibody-positive in muscle fluid. After vaccination or vaccination and subsequent infection of animals (n = 42), meat juice samples scored serologically positive. The antibody titres of these samples were significantly lower than in serum. Serological investigations of field samples derived from wild boars (n = 75) shot in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania showed a clear correlation between the antibody-positive samples in serum and in meat juice, whereas the serological results of meat juice samples (n = 54) from wild boars collected in Lower Saxony were slightly different. The reasons for these differences are discussed. Nevertheless, meat juice seems to be a suitable substrate for CSF diagnosis, especially for wild boars.