Total nucleic acids were extracted from all rectal swabs using the MagMax™ Pathogen RNA Kit (Applied Biosystems, Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA) on an automated nucleic acid extraction system (Thermo Scientific Kingfisher® Flex, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. All RNA extracts were tested for the presence of PEDV RNA by a quantitative real-time PCR [19 (link)]. Samples were considered negative when no signal was observed within 40 amplification cycles.
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