Animal specimen collection tools

Abstract

To provide an animal specimen collection device that allows businesses to safely collect specimens for medical purposes from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, etc., without contracting infectious diseases. [Solution] An animal specimen collection device A for collecting specimens from the body of an animal comprises a dropper 10 as a suction device for aspirating specimens from the body of an animal, and a sealed storage container 11 as a storage device for storing specimens aspirated by the suction device. The dropper has an elongated spindle-shaped cylindrical body portion 12 formed of a transparent, soft synthetic resin that forms a specimen storage section, and an extraction tube portion 13 attached to the front end of the body portion.

Description

Technical Field

[0007]

[0001] The present invention relates to a specimen collection tool for animals.

Background Art

[0002] Currently in Japan, since September 2018, the number of cases where pigs, wild boars, and hybrid pigs are infected with "classical swine fever (CSF)" has been increasing. "Classical swine fever (CSF)" is a febrile infectious disease of pigs, wild boars, hybrid pigs, deer, etc. caused by the classical swine fever virus, characterized by strong infectivity and high lethality.

[0003] Infected pigs excrete the virus in saliva, feces, and urine, and the infection spreads through contact with infected pigs and contaminated articles. There is no effective treatment method, and since the impact on the livestock industry when it occurs is extremely large, it is designated as a livestock infectious disease in the Livestock Infectious Disease Prevention Law.

[0004] Due to the strong infectivity and high lethality of classical swine fever, there has been a call for the need for classical swine fever testing for pigs, wild boars, etc. However, conventionally, according to the government's policy, it has been prohibited for private operators to directly collect specimens from pigs, wild boars, etc. for testing.

[0005] However, the policy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has changed, and it is conceivable that after 2025, private operators may be permitted to collect and test specimens for pigs, wild boars, etc.

[0006] From this perspective, Patent Document 1 discloses a blood collection tube for small animals and a blood collection tube device for small animals using the same. However, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a technology specialized for collecting blood from small animals, and its applicability to pigs, wild boars, etc. is limited. Therefore, currently, there is a demand for a specimen collection tool that can be used for collecting specimens from animals, particularly pigs, wild boars, deer, etc.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-209478 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] The objective of this invention is to provide an animal specimen collection device that can collect specimens from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, and other animals for so-called swine fever testing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To address these issues, the invention described in claim 1 is an animal specimen collection device for collecting specimens from the body of an animal, characterized by comprising a suction device for aspirating the specimen and a sealed storage device for storing the specimen aspirated by the suction device.

[0010] The invention described in claim 2 is an animal specimen collection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the specimen is animal blood and the suction device is formed by a syringe or a dropper.

[0011] The invention described in claim 3 is an animal specimen collection device for collecting animal specimens, characterized in that it comprises a rod-shaped body having a cotton ball portion or a cloth wiping portion, a storage bag made of soft synthetic resin for storing the cotton ball portion or the cloth wiping portion in a state in which the specimen has been wiped with the rod-shaped body, and a sealed storage device for storing the specimen stored in the storage bag.

[0012] The invention described in claim 4 is an animal specimen collection device according to claim 3, characterized in that the specimen is animal blood, and the storage bag has a hole formed therein that allows the blood to be dropped into the sealed storage device.

[0013] The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the animal is a pig, wild boar or wild boar-pig hybrid, a wild bird or a deer, etc., and is an animal specimen collection device according to claims 1 to 4. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The inventions described in claims 1, 2, and 5 are animal specimen collection devices for collecting specimens from the body of an animal, characterized by comprising a suction device for aspirating the specimen and a sealed storage device for storing the specimen aspirated by the suction device, wherein the collector can easily collect the blood specimen using a syringe or dropper, transfer it to the sealed storage device, and store it appropriately for testing. As a result, samples can be collected and tested from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, and even deer or wild birds, which can contribute in particular to preventing the spread of classical swine fever (CFS).

[0015] The inventions described in claims 3, 4, and 5 are animal specimen collection devices for collecting animal specimens, comprising a rod-shaped body having a cotton ball portion or a cloth wiping portion, a storage bag made of soft synthetic resin for storing the cotton ball portion or the cloth wiping portion after the specimen has been wiped with the rod-shaped body, and a sealed storage device for storing the specimen stored in the storage bag. As such, specimens such as blood can be easily collected, transferred to the sealed storage device, and stored appropriately for testing. As a result, samples can be collected and tested from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, and even deer, wild birds, etc., which can contribute in particular to preventing the spread of classical swine fever (CFS). [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0016] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the animal specimen collection device according to the present invention, where (a) shows a dropper used as a suction device and (b) shows one embodiment of a sealed storage device for storing specimens. [Figure 2]FIG. 0 shows an embodiment of a specimen sampler for animals, where (a) shows a syringe body as a suction device, and (b) is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a sealed storage device for storing specimens. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a specimen sampler for animals, which is a perspective view showing a rod-shaped body having a cotton ball portion and a storage bag for storing the cotton ball portion in a state where the specimen has been wiped off by the rod-shaped body. [Figure 4] FIG. 6 shows a rod-shaped body as a specimen sampler for animals according to the present invention, a storage bag made of a soft synthetic resin for storing the cotton ball portion in a state where the specimen has been wiped off by the rod-shaped body, and a storage device for storing the specimen stored in the storage bag. It is a perspective explanatory view showing a state where the storage bag is constricted by appropriate means and the blood, which is the specimen, is dropped into the sealed storage device for storage.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0017] Based on the accompanying drawings, the specimen sampler for animals according to the present invention will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the animal specimen sampler A according to the first embodiment is composed of a dropper 10 as a suction device and a sealed storage container 11 for storing specimens. The dropper 10 has, for example, an elongated spindle-shaped cylindrical main body portion 12 that forms a specimen storage portion formed of a transparent soft synthetic resin, and an extraction tube portion 13 attached to the front end portion of the main body portion 12.

[0018] The main body portion 12 is formed in a size that can be held by a user, and is formed of a material having a hardness such that it can be deformed to the extent that the cylindrical shape is crushed in the radial direction when strongly held. Also, the extraction tube 13 is formed in an elongated cylindrical shape, and a hole portion 14 is provided at the tip end portion of the extraction tube 13.

[0019] In this embodiment, the extraction tube 13 is formed straight along the axial direction up to the tip, but it may be formed by bending the tip at a predetermined angle. Further, a shape memory resin may be adopted and formed so that the tip can be fixed in a bent state at an appropriate angle from a straight state. Also, the sealed storage container 11 is made of a synthetic resin as a whole, and is composed of an elongated cylindrical main body 11a and a cap portion 15 that is screwed and fixedly attached to a screw portion 11b formed at the upper end portion of the main body 11a and can seal the inside.

[0020] Therefore, when using the dropper-type animal specimen sampler 10 according to this embodiment, the user places the hole 14 formed at the tip of the extraction tube 13 in contact with the blood sampling site of, for example, pigs, wild boars, wild pigs, deer, wild birds, etc., which are the specimen sampling targets. Next, by gripping and denting the main body portion 12 by hand from both sides, a negative pressure is formed inside the main body portion 12, and the blood, which is the specimen, is sucked through the extraction tube 13 using the negative pressure and guided into and stored in the main body portion 12. When the blood, which is the specimen, is stored in the main body portion 12, then the collected blood is dropped into the sealed storage container 11, the opening of which can be sealed by the cap 15, through the extraction tube 13 for storage, and transferred to various inspection devices to perform specimen inspection.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the suction device that constitutes the animal specimen sampler according to the second embodiment includes a syringe body 20, and is configured to use the storage container 11 according to the above embodiment for storing and storing specimens. The syringe body 20 according to this embodiment has the same configuration as a general syringe body, and has a cylindrical syringe portion 21 and a plunger portion 22 that is disposed inside the rear end opening of the syringe portion 21 in an airtight manner and can protrude and retract. Further, in this embodiment, a tube 24 made of a flexible material is connected and fixed to a small-diameter suction and discharge portion 23 that protrudes from the tip of the syringe portion 21.

[0022] Therefore, when collecting a sample using the syringe body 20, which is an animal sample collection device according to this embodiment, the plunger part 22 is first positioned at the tip of the syringe part 20, and then placed at the sample collection location of the animal, such as a pig, wild boar, wild pig-pig hybrid, deer, or wild bird, just as with a general syringe body. Subsequently, the plunger 22 is pulled back to create negative pressure inside the syringe section 20, and this negative pressure is used to draw the sample, such as blood, into the syringe section 20. As a result, blood from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, deer, wild birds, etc. flows into the main body 20 via the suction tube 24 and is stored in the syringe section 20. When blood or other specimens from pigs, wild boars, wild boar-pig hybrids, deer, wild birds, etc. are stored in the syringe section 20, the blood or other specimens are then discharged into the sealed storage container 11 for storage and use for testing.

[0023] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the animal specimen collection device C according to the third embodiment consists of a rod-shaped body 31 having a cotton ball portion 32 at its tip, a storage bag 33 for storing the cotton ball portion 32 after wiping the specimen with the cotton swab-shaped body 31, and a sealed storage device 38 for storing the specimen stored in the storage bag 33.

[0024] The cotton swab-like body 31 used in this embodiment is the same shape as a general cotton swab, but is formed to be larger. The rod-shaped body 31 according to this embodiment is composed of a shaft portion 34 and a cotton ball-shaped portion 32 provided at the tip of the shaft portion 34. The cotton ball-shaped portion 32 is made of cotton or synthetic fibers, and as synthetic fibers, for example, polyester, rayon, nonwoven fabric, or sponge is used.

[0025] The storage bag 33 is formed in an elongated cylindrical shape and is made of transparent synthetic resin, which is made of a thin fabric material such as vinyl, polyethylene, or polystyrene. Perforations 35 are provided at the corners 36 of the widthwise end of the lower end, and the bag is configured so that a hole 37 can be formed at the lower end of the storage bag 33 by cutting along the perforations 35.

[0026] Therefore, when collecting animal specimens, particularly blood from pigs, wild boars, wild pig-pig hybrids, deer, wild birds, etc., using the animal specimen collection tool 30 according to this embodiment, the collector grasps the shaft portion 34 and applies the cotton ball portion 32 to a part of the animal from which specimens can be collected, such as a bleeding site, and allows the blood specimen to be absorbed by the cotton ball portion 32.

[0027] Next, as shown in Figure 3, the cotton swab-like body 31 having a cotton ball-shaped part 32 that has absorbed blood is placed in the storage bag 33 so that the cotton ball-shaped part 32 is positioned inside. Then, as shown in Figure 4, the storage bag 33 is placed in the sealed storage container 38 so that the cotton ball-shaped part 32 is positioned inside the storage container 38, and the corners 36 are cut along the perforations 35 to create holes 37.

[0028] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 4, the cotton ball portion 32 is pressed and crushed from both sides of the storage bag 33 from the radially outer side in direction II using a finger or the like, squeezing out the blood sample 39 from the cotton ball portion 32 and letting it drip into the storage container 38. The accumulated predetermined amount of blood 39 is then stored in the sealed storage container 38. After that, the blood 39 in the storage container 34 is used for swine fever testing as appropriate.

[0029] Furthermore, when transporting the sealed container 11 containing the specimen to a testing facility or the like, it is desirable to transport, ship, or mail the sealed container 11 in a so-called biohazard bag or the like, along with absorbent paper, in order to prevent leakage.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the case in which a rod-shaped body 31 having a cotton ball portion 32 at its tip is used was described as an example, but the embodiment is not limited to the above embodiment, and a cloth wiping portion may be provided at the tip of the shaft portion 34.

[0031] The animal specimen collection device according to the present invention has been described above based on each embodiment. The present invention can be modified as appropriate without departing from its essence, and such modifications are included within the scope of the rights of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0032] A Animal specimen collection device 10 droppers 11. Airtight storage containers 11a Main Unit 11b Screw section 12 Main body 13 Extraction tubes 13a Specimen passage section 14 Opening 15 caps B Animal specimen collection device 20 Syringe body 21 Syringe section 22 Plunge section 23 Suction / exhaust section 24 tubes C Animal specimen collection device 31 Rod-shaped body 32 Cotton balls 33 Storage bags 34 Shaft section 35 perforations 36 Corner 37 Hole 38 Storage items 39 Blood

Claims

1. An animal specimen collection device for collecting specimens from the body of an animal, An animal specimen collection device characterized by comprising a suction device for aspirating the specimen and a sealed storage device for storing the specimen aspirated by the suction device.

2. The animal specimen collection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the specimen is animal blood and the suction device is formed from a syringe or dropper.

3. An animal specimen collection device for collecting animal specimens, A rod-shaped body having a cotton ball portion or a cloth wiping portion, A storage bag made of soft synthetic resin for storing the cotton ball portion or the cloth wiping portion in the state in which the sample has been wiped with the rod-shaped body, An animal specimen collection device characterized by comprising a sealed storage device for storing specimens stored in the aforementioned storage bag.

4. The animal specimen collection device according to claim 3, wherein the specimen is animal blood, and the storage bag has a hole formed therein that allows the blood to be dropped into the sealed storage device.

5. The animal specimen collection device according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the animal is a pig, wild boar, wild boar-pig hybrid, deer, or wild bird.

Images