Comparative study of PCR methods to detect Pasteurella multocida.

The aim of the investigation was to compare four published PCR methods for specific detection of Pasteurella multocida. 85 strains of P. multocida and 13 strains of other taxa were included in the comparison of four published PCR methods based on kmt1, 23S rRNA and transcriptional regulator genes pm0762 and pm1231 as targets, respectively. Sensitivities were calculated to 100 and 80% for the kmt1 and 23S rRNA based PCRs, respectively and specificities to 92 and 23%, respectively of the kmt1 and 23S rRNA based PCRs. The methods based on transcriptional regulator genes tested two Bisgaard taxon 45 strains positive in addition to one Bisgaard taxon 16 strain. Only the kmt1 method detected P. multocida with the expected sensitivity and specificity and this method is recommended for identification of the species.