Routine gill swabbing is a non‐destructive sampling method used for the downstream qPCR detection and quantitation of the pathogen Neoparamoeba perurans, a causative agent of amoebic gill disease (AGD). Three commercially available swabs were compared aiming their application for timelier AGD diagnosis (Calgiswab^® (calcium alginate fibre‐tipped), Isohelix^® DNA buccal and cotton wool‐tipped). Calcium alginate is soluble in most sodium salts, which potentially allows the total recovery of biological material, hence a better extraction of target organisms’ DNA. Thus, this study consisted of (a) an in vitro assessment involving spiking of the swabs with known amounts of amoebae and additional assessment of retrieval efficiency of amoebae from agar plates; (b) in vivo testing by swabbing of gill arches (second, third and fourth) of AGD‐infected fish. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments identified an enhanced amoeba retrieval with Calgiswab® and Isohelix® swabs in comparison with cotton swabs. Additionally, the third and fourth gill arches presented significantly higher amoebic loads compared to the second gill arch. Results suggest that limiting routine gill swabbing to one or two arches, instead of all, could likely lead to reduced stress‐related effects incurred by handling and sampling and a timelier diagnosis of AGD.

中文翻译：

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使用不同拭子材料对大西洋鲑（Salmo salar L.）的阿米巴bic病（AGD）进行最佳诊断的比较。

常规g拭是一种非破坏性采样方法，用于下游qPCR检测和定量病原体新副发霉变质虫，这是阿米巴g病（AGD）的病原体。三种市售拭子相比瞄准及时的诊断AGD其Calgiswab应用（^®（藻酸钙纤维尖），Isohelix ^®DNA颊和棉毛尖）。海藻酸钙可溶于大多数钠盐中，这有可能使生物材料全部回收，从而更好地提取了目标生物的DNA。因此，这项研究包括：（a）体外评估，包括用已知数量的变形虫将药签加标，并进一步评估从琼脂平板上提取变形虫的效率；（b）擦拭受AGD感染的鱼的arch弓（第二，第三和第四根）进行体内测试。在体外和体内实验中，与棉签相比，使用Calgiswab®和Isohelix®棉签可以识别出增强的变形虫。另外，与第二ill弓相比，第三和第四g弓呈现出更高的阿米巴负荷。结果表明，将常规g擦拭限制在一个或两个拱门上，