Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVIII, Issue 1
Written by Saba SATTAR, Warda AMJAD, Sana SAGHEER, Mushtaq Hussain LASHARI, Umer FAROOQ, Zia-Ur-REHMAN, Sikander ABBAS, Haroon RASHID, Musadiq IDRIS, Musarrat Abbas KHAN, Madiha SHARIF
This study aimed to assess the accuracy and precision of 3-part multispecies hematology analyzers for white blood cell (WBC) counting in comparison to manual quantification in apparently healthy Sipli sheep (n = 60). Blood samples were collected once and analyzed using a hemocytometer with two different dilutions (1:20 and 1:40), referred to as WBC-1 and WBC-2, respectively. Automated WBC counting was performed using two multispecies veterinary hematology analyzers, WBC-R and WBC-B. The mean (± SE) values and reference intervals (RIs) for overall and group-wise data showed that only WBC-R fell within the physiological range for sheep, whereas WBC-1, WBC-2, and WBC-B reported lower values. A weak agreement was observed between the two multispecies analyzers, with a mean bias of -30.97 (upper limit: -14.56, lower limit: -46.77) and a standard deviation of bias of 8.37. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was also low (0.619), indicating poor consistency. Additionally, Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (LCCC) measured accuracy at 0.086, while precision was determined to be 0.603. In summary, hemocytometer-based manual WBC counting in sheep may lack accuracy. Among the tested analyzers, Rayto RT-7600Vet (China) produced WBC counts closest to the physiological range, making it a more suitable option for clinical use. It is concluded that 3-part hematology analyzers with predefined settings for sheep require calibration with separate set of RIs to ensure accurate analysis of sheep blood.
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