A review of diagnostic tests recommended by the World Organisation for Animal Health Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals

Abstract

To provide a standardised approach to the diagnosis of diseases and to facilitate health certification for trade, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) standards, described in the ManualofDiagnostic Tests andVaccines for Terrestrial Animals (Terrestrial Manual), include internationally agreed laboratory diagnostic techniques. This review examines the type of tests recommended in the disease-specific chapters of the Terrestrial Manual for the six most common purposes of diagnostic techniques, including certification for movement, confirmation of clinical cases and disease surveillance. The most frequently recommended tests for all six purposes are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and/or polymerase chain reaction, for which there are detailed validation guidelines in the OIE Terrestrial Manual. This is true for all species and no species-specific barriers to validation related to test type were identified. Classical techniques continue to be well represented in the Terrestrial Manual recommendations whereas novel technologies are slow to gain acceptance. These classical tests can present challenges for validation as there may be a dearth of international standard reagents and harmonised protocols.