Aspergillus species

Test code: F0009 - Ultrasensitive qualitative detection of most common Aspergillus species by real time PCR

Aspergillus is a filamentous fungus that occurs ubiquitously in the environment. It is found in soil, on plants, in decaying organic matter, and in household dust and building materials. Most people inhale Aspergillus spores every day without being affected, but for immunocompromised persons such as AIDS patients and cancer patients, inhaling the fungal spores may cause illness. The spectrum of illness includes allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs.

There are more than 185 species of Aspergillus; the most common species are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus. Other common species include Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus nidulans, and Aspergillus niger.

Aspergillus infections in birds, cattle, horses, pigs, primates and other species have been reported infrequently. Pulmonary symptoms are often seen in these cases. Healthy unstressed animals are generally resistant to even high levels of spores. However, young and old animals, those on antibiotics, and those whose immune systems are suppressed by surgery, reproduction, environmental changes, capture, or shipping may become infected.

Since many animals have had prior exposure to Aspergillus, serological testing is not useful or reliable. Although traditional culture detection of Aspergillus is highly specific, culture of this organism is slow and sensitivity is low. However, molecular detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is both specific and sensitive, and is a rapid and effective alternative to other methods (Buess et al., 2012).

Utilities:

• Help confirm the disease causing agent
• Shorten the time required to confirm a clinical diagnosis of Aspergillus infection.
• Detection of this fungus in buildings and at worksites
• Early prevention of the spread of this fungus
• Minimize personnel exposure to this fungus
• Safety monitoring of biological products and vaccines

References:
Buess, M., Cathomas, G., Halter, J., Junker, L., Grendelmeier, P., Tamm, M. and Stolz, D. (2012) Aspergillus-PCR in bronchoalveolar lavage for detection of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in immunocompromised patients. BMC Infectious Diseases 12: 237-244.

Specimen requirements: Throat or respiratory swab, or 0.2 ml water, or fungal culture, or 0.2 ml fresh, frozen or fixed tissue, or environmental surface swab.

Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.

For all specimen types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during very warm weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship with a cold pack unless more stringent shipping requirements are specified. Frozen specimens should be shipped so as to remain frozen in transit. See shipping instructions for more information

Turnaround time: 2 business days

Methodology: Qualitative real time PCR

Normal range: Nondetected