Användandet av samlingsprover för att bestämma besättningsstatus för smitta med Dictyocaulus viviparus hos förstagångsbetande nötkreatur
Infection with the bovine lungworm - Dictyocaulus viviparus - is occasionally a problem in Swedish cattle herds. The infection could act in synergism with other infections such as Corona virus to create a poorer welfare and productivity in cattle. Studies have shown that a diagnosis can be made with both the Baermann method and with an ELISA. In Norway diagnosis of BVDV on a herd level is attained through pooled serum samples. The question was raised whether pooled serum samples could be used in a similar fashion to attain status on a herd level for lungworm. Samples from 118 farms were pooled and tested with an ELISA and then compared with the individual samples. Those pooled samples which showed a strongly positive reaction had at least one test positive animal, and the negative pools contained no test positive animals. This indicates that such a test strategy could be useful to determine the risk of infection in a herd, for example preceding a sale. Thus it could also prove to be useful in large scale epidemiologic studies on lungworm.