PCR amplification of crude blood on microscope slides in the diagnosis of Trypanosoma evansi infection in dairy cattle.

In this study, we compared four T. evansi detection tests (Direct examination, Card Agglutination mouse inoculation and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in a natural infection of dairy cattle in central Thailand. The samples for PCR amplification were collected either in microfuge tubes or on microscope slides and the amplification results were compared. Collecting the samples on slides was faster and more convenient than collection in tubes. Comparable results were obtained from PCR amplification of both tube- and slide collected samples, processed twelve to fourteen days after collection. PCR was the most sensitive of the methods under comparison, using the mouse inoculation test as golden standard. The specificity of the PCR test under study is further discussed in this paper.