Comparison of bacterial culture and qPCR testing of rectal and pen floor samples as diagnostic approaches to detect enterotoxic Escherichia coli in nursery pigs

We observed an acceptable agreement for the detection of ETEC-positive diarrhoeic nursery pigs in pen samples for both bacterial culture of pen floor samples and qPCR. This study showed that both bacterial culture and qPCR testing of pen floor samples can be used as a diagnostic approach for detecting groups of ETEC-positive diarrhoeic nursery pigs.