Comparison of immunochromatographic rapid test with molecular method in diagnosis of canine parvovirus

Canine parvovirus (CPV) infection is one of the most common causes of infectious gastroenteritis in dogs and is a highly contagious, often fatal disease. The original virus (CPV type 2) has had some mutations since its emergence and new variants (CPV-2a, 2b and 2c) have been reported from many countries all around the world. Early diagnosis and treatment can profoundly affect the disease outcome. To compare the ability of Immunochromatographic (IC) test to detect CPV infection in 50 PCR positive samples (n=50) with regard to virus strains. 50 rectal swabs (n=50) were prepared from suspicious dogs and subjected to PCR and IC test respectively. The sensitivity of IC test in PCR positive samples was 84% (42 out of 50 samples) and the positive predictive value of the test was 100%. Using PCR, CPV strains in our study were 2a (18/50, 36%) and 2b (32/50, 64%) with the predominance of 2b strain. IC test was also able to diagnose 15/18 (83.3%) of CPV- 2a and 27/32 (84.3%) CPV-2b strain positive samples, which means IC test can detect CPV infections caused by both virus strains (2a and 2b), without significant difference. This study shows that IC test results are relatively reliable for diagnosing CPVinfection in daily veterinary practice and the test is able to diagnose both CPV-2a and CPV-2b which are prevalent strains in Iran.