Non-Invasive Fecal Based PCR Assays for Detection of Mouse Parvo Virus and Minute Virus of Mice in Laboratory Mice

Background: Murine parvoviruses are a few of the most common pathogens of laboratory mice posing potential threats to mice colonies and experiments conducted in mice. We initiated this study to develop the fecal based PCR assays as an alternative to serology and to check its feasibility to detect the infections in mice caused by Mouse Parvo Virus (MPV) and Minute Virus of mice (MVM). Methods: Primers targeting the VP2 gene of MPV and MVM were selected and their sensitivity was analysed in tenfold serially diluted gene template in the presence of negative mouse fecal DNA. Selected thirty-seven mice at the age of 6 to 18 weeks randomly and collected blood samples for serology and fecal samples for PCR assays. Result: PCR assays of MPV and MVM detected as low as 0.4 fg of the target plasmid DNA. PCR assays in fecal samples of mice detected the presence of natural infections of MPV and MVM and their respective prevalence was 24% and 30%. Diagnostic sensitivity of MPV and MVM were 74% and 76% respectively. Our findings indicate that the fecal-PCR assay may be a useful, non-invasive and sensitive diagnostic tool in the ante-mortem detection of MPV and MVM in the health monitoring program.