DETECTION OF LAWSONIA-INTRACELLULARIS IN HUNGARIAN SWINE HERDS BY POLYMERASE-CHAIN-REACTION

Pooled faecal samples and/or intestinal contents from pig carcasses we re collected from 11 Hungarian swine farms and subjected to DNA extrac tion/purification and subsequent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in or der to detect Lawsonia intracellularis, the aetiological agent of the porcine proliferative enteropathy complex. Specific PCR positivity was detected in 6 individual and 22 pooled samples out of 46, originating from eight herds. The PCR products of collected faecal samples hybrid ised in Southern blot hybridisation with the DNA of the type strain L. intracellularis NCTC 12657. This is the first confirmed detection oft . intracellularis by PCR in Hungary.