Division 4

PCR can be performed within 48 hours. It requires appropriate laboratory equipment, separated facilities and skilled staff. An advantage is that infectious virus particles need not be replicated in the laboratory. The method is highly sensitive, but contamination may easily occur, which leads to false positive results. Therefore stringent quality control procedures are essential. Some methods are pestivirus rather than classical swine fever specific, requiring further confirmatory tests, such as sequencing of the PCR product.