Detection of Salmonella spp. in pooled environmental samples from an equine veterinary hospital using a novel point-of-care PCR assay.
Authors: Pusterla Nicola, Lawton Kaila, Barnum Samantha, Vitomirov Andrej, Anaya Selina, Naranatt Pramod, Swadia Himani, Mendonsa Eric
Journal: Journal of equine veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Salmonella contamination in equine veterinary facilities poses serious risks for nosocomial spread, yet rapid environmental monitoring remains challenging in practice settings. Researchers evaluated a point-of-care (POC) PCR assay against gold-standard quantitative PCR for detecting Salmonella spp. in 945 environmental samples collected from high-risk hospital zones (ICU, isolation stalls, treatment rooms, surgical suites); samples were pooled in groups of 6–10 following selenite broth enrichment, with positive pools subjected to individual sample retesting. The POC assay demonstrated perfect concordance with qPCR results (100% agreement across 135 pools: 118 negative, 17 positive), correctly identifying all Salmonella-positive individual samples within positive pools without false positives or negatives. By condensing the diagnostic pathway to 24 hours from collection to actionable result—rather than days with conventional culture methods—this pooling strategy and rapid PCR technology substantially improves the feasibility of routine environmental surveillance in equine hospitals, enabling faster isolation protocols and targeted cleaning interventions when contamination is detected.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •A rapid point-of-care PCR test can reliably detect Salmonella in equine hospital environments with results in 24 hours, matching accuracy of standard laboratory qPCR
- •Environmental pooling strategy is an efficient and cost-effective approach for monitoring high-risk areas (ICU, isolation stalls, surgical suites) in equine veterinary hospitals
- •Implementing this POC PCR assay enables faster identification of Salmonella contamination, supporting quicker implementation of infection control measures to reduce nosocomial transmission risk
Key Findings
- •Point-of-care PCR assay showed 100% agreement with qPCR for Salmonella detection in pooled environmental samples (118 negative, 17 positive pools)
- •Pooling strategy successfully identified Salmonella-positive individual samples from 17 positive pools using both qPCR and POC PCR methods
- •POC PCR assay reduced turnaround time to 24 hours from sample collection to analysis, improving compliance in hospital monitoring