Development and evaluation of a TaqMan® real-time PCR assay for species-specific detection of Ehrlichia canis.

The aim of this work was to develop a real-time PCR assay with a TaqMan® probe that detects a species-specific part of the 16S rDNA gene of Ehrlichia canis. Canine blood samples (n = 207), collected and tested by a conventional PCR assay within a study conducted by De Salvo et al., were simultaneously analyzed with the novel designed real-time PCR, and the results of both assays were compared.