Testing by TVMDL as part of the Texas Animal Health Commission Trichomoniasis Program, continued (Page: 1 | 3 )
The specimens and submission form are then passed to a “Case Assigner” who double checks the accuracy of the information provided with each case. Every case is assigned a unique ten digit “Accession Number”. This number becomes permanently associated with the case and all of the individual specimens included in the case. Adhesive labels with the accession number are applied to all case documents and to each specimen that arrived with the case. Once identified with accession numbers, documents will then be routed to the “Front Office” staff for entry into the Administrative and Reporting System. Specimens will be segregated into containers which are then routed to the individual laboratory testing sections.
Testing for Trich is provided by one of two approved testing methods. First “Culture” may be conducted whereby the organism is grown in the transport media pouch and identified visibly under a microscope. Secondly, a Polymerase Chain Reaction or “PCR” test may be used which identifies genetic material or DNA from the organism. As you have seen during the previous specimen collection instructions, either test requires the specimen to be submitted in the Trich media pouch.
Testing by the Culture process requires that each pouch is incubated at approximately 97 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 days. The pouch is “read” or inspected under a light microscope daily to check for the presence of the trich organism which has a characteristic rolling forward movement in the liquid media. Although this is a rather “low tech” procedure, it does require a considerable investment in technician’s time to adequately scan each pouch to insure none of the microscopic trich organisms are missed.
Testing by PCR is done in the Molecular Diagnostics section using a test which can identify very small quantities of the genetic material of a target organism. The PCR test allows the technician to detect very small quantities of DNA or RNA from a virus, bacteria, or other pathogen and then to produce a very large number of copies of that target DNA or RNA. The large number of copies are then much easier to identify. This process has been referred to as making a “Haystack out of Needles.”