Background Information

Melissococcus plutonius is a bacterium that infects the midgut of bee larvae. European foulbrood (EFB, Putrificatio polybacterica larvae apium, Pestis europea larvae apium) is considered less serious than American foulbrood. M. plutonius is not a spore-forming bacterium, but bacterial cells can survive for several months on wax foundation. Symptoms include dead and dying larvae which can appear curled upwards, brown or yellow, melted or deflated with tracheal tubes more apparent, or dried out and rubbery. European foulbrood is often considered a "stress" disease — dangerous only if the colony is already under stress for other reasons. An otherwise healthy colony can usually survive European foulbrood. Chemical treatment with oxytetracycline hydrochloride may control an outbreak of the disease, but honey from treated colonies could have chemical residues from the treatment. The "Shook Swarm" technique of bee husbandry can also effectively control the disease, with the advantage of avoiding the use of chemicals. Prophylactic treatments are not recommended as they lead to resistant bacteria.

LiliF™ EFB PCR Kit Kit is able to detect directly and specifically Melisococcus plutonius by CLP™ technology and Maxime ™ technology on the basis of a genetic database of target nucleic acid fragments. Therefore, this kit can diagnose very sensitive, fast and accurately. The kit contains a specific primer set for a highly conserved region based on current sequence alignments of Melisococcus plutonius, allowing the DNA detection. It can determine the infecting all serotype and accurately and sensitivity detect multiple detection genes at one time using the conventional PCR method, and take only 3 hours for detection. Fast and sensitive detection of pathogen enables patients to get appropriate treatment and prevent the rapid spreading of disease by separating patients immediately.