Development of a prototypic, field-usable diagnostic tool for the detection of gram-positive cocci-induced mastitis in cattle.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Bovine mastitis is one of the most widespread diseases affecting cattle, leading to significant losses for the dairy industry. Currently, the so-called gold standard in mastitis diagnosis involves determining the somatic cell count (SCC). Apart from a number of advantages, this method has one serious flaw: It does not identify the etiological factor causing a particular infection, making it impossible to introduce targeted antimicrobial therapy. This can contribute to multidrug-resistance in bacterial species. The diagnostic market lacks a test that has the advantages of SCC and also recognizes the species of pathogen causing the inflammation. Therefore, the aim of our study was to develop a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) based on elongation factor Tu for identifying most prevalent Gram-positive cocci responsible for causing mastitis including Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus.

RESULTS:

As a result, we showed that the assay for S. uberis detection demonstrated a specificity of 89.02%, a sensitivity of 43.59%, and an accuracy of 80.3%. In turn, the second variant - assay for Gram-positive cocci reached a specificity of 95.59%, a sensitivity of 43.28%, and an accuracy of 78.33%.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our study shows that EF-Tu is a promising target for LFIA and we have delivered evidence that further evaluation could improve test parameters and fill the gap in the mastitis diagnostics market.

• Authors: Anna Dobrut, Jakub Skibiński, Adrian Bekier, Kamil Drożdż, Karolina Rudnicka, Przemysław Płociński, Izabela Siemińska, Monika Brzychczy-Włoch
• Journal: BMC veterinary research (BMC Vet Res) Vol. 20 Issue 1 Pg. 169 (May 02 2024) ISSN: 1746-6148 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 38698383 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).

Topics

• Mastitis, Bovine (diagnosis, microbiology)
• Animals
• Cattle
• Female
• Streptococcus agalactiae (isolation & purification)
• Streptococcus (isolation & purification)
• Staphylococcus aureus (isolation & purification)
• Sensitivity and Specificity
• Streptococcal Infections (veterinary, diagnosis, microbiology)
• Gram-Positive Cocci (isolation & purification)
• Immunoassay (veterinary, methods)
• Staphylococcal Infections (veterinary, diagnosis, microbiology)
• Milk (microbiology, cytology)