Description
Campylobacter jejuni and C.coli, Salmonella enterica, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), methicillin-resistant Staphlyococcus aureus (MRSA). Campylobacter and Salmonella primarily cause enterocolitis with diarrhoea that can be watery, mucoid or haemorrhagic, often accompanied by fever, abdominal pain and systemic illness in severe cases, and they spread mainly via ingestion of contaminated food (such as that which can accompany raw food diets), water or faeces from infected or carrier animals and contaminated environments.
The organisms in the Intestinal Bacteria panel are included as they are considered the most concerning for causing clinical disease and zoonotic infection and to other animals, especially children, elderly individuals and immunocompromised people. These bacterias can be carried asymptomatically in faeces so the qPCR can detect a high organisms load (low Ct) in a symptomatic animals
In practice, a low level qPCR positive in a clinically normal animal, or in an animal with multiple other pathogens, is often interpreted as colonisation rather than primary disease, whereas a high-load qPCR positive, especially when virulence markers are present and other causes are not found, supports clinical relevance. Clinical judgement, co-pathogen results, and where available, epidemiological context (e.g., outbreaks, raw food exposure) therefore remain essential to determine whether pathogens are truly significant.
