The experience of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia ring trials in Botswana.

The Botswana National Veterinary Laboratory (BNVL) has conducted ring trials (proficiency testing) on an annual basis since 2010. Proficiency testing is carried out to evaluate the ability of veterinary laboratories to perform serological complement fixation tests (CFTs) and molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the diagnosis of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP). In this paper, the authors discuss the experience gained and the lessons learned in coordinating these ring trials over a period of six years, from 2010 to 2015.The number of participating laboratories increased from five in 2010 to 11 in2015. Their performance also improved over this period. The proportion of unsatisfactory results decreased from 40% to 10% for serological testing, while questionable results decreased from 60% to 10%. The proportion of unsatisfactory results for the molecular test decreased from 33% to 0%. Systematic errors (i.e. technical errors or imperfect experimental design) were the principal causes of questionable and unsatisfactory results. An analysis of responses from customer satisfaction surveys conducted annually since 2013 provided valuable information that enabled BNVL to redesign the programme in 2014 and 2015 to improve the overall quality of the proficiency testing programme. Among the changes made were sending freeze-dried sera for CFTs and DNA for PCR instead of sera and liquid cultures.