New Approaches for Diagnosis of Viral Diseases in Animals

Identification and control of viruses that causes diseases in human, domestic and wild animals represent continuous challenges to medical and veterinary sciences.From centuries many diagnostic techniques have been tried to identify individual infectious agents by their clinical signs and symptoms produced in the susceptible host.But it is not always possible to identify or differentiate the disease on the basis of its signs and symptoms and thus requires other advanced diagnostic procedures to clearly identify and confirm the pathogens.Rapid detection of infectious agents in animals as well as in environment is essential for effective control of infectious diseases.There are various approaches for detection of viral diseases which includes conventional as well as modern approaches.Several conventional techniques such as isolation in cell culture, serology and histological identification are traditionally used to identify viral pathogens.However, the latest molecular diagnostic technologies are more advantageous as they are offer more sensitive, less time consuming, high throughput result.Other novel technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Reverse Transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), Real Time-PCR, DNA probe, nucleic acid sequencing etc.provide a thorough understanding of accurate diagnosis and discrimination of present and emerging diseases.The aim of these new tools is to detect the presence of pathogen before the onset of disease.Here we have discussed the advancement of diagnostic tools and their applications for important animal viruses of domestic and wild animals.