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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291541
Title: Rapid detection of serum antibody by dual-path platform VetTB assay in white-tailed deer infected with Mycobacterium bovis

Author
item LYASHCHENKO, KONSTANTIN - Chembio Diagnostic Systems, Inc
item GREENWALD, RENA - Chembio Diagnostic Systems, Inc
item ESFANDIARI, JAVAN - Chembio Diagnostic Systems, Inc
item O'BRIEN, DANIEL - Michigan Department Of Natural Resources
item SCHMITT, STEPHEN - Michigan Department Of Natural Resources
item Palmer, Mitchell
item Waters, Wade

Submitted to: Clinical and Vaccine Immunology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/13/2013
Publication Date: 4/17/2013
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/56696
Citation: Lyashchenko, K.P., Greenwald, R., Esfandiari, J., O'Brien, D.J., Schmitt, S., Palmer, M.V., Waters, W.R. 2013. Rapid detection of serum antibody by dual-path platform VetTB assay in white-tailed deer infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. 20(6):907-911.

Interpretive Summary: White-tailed deer are wildlife reservoirs of bovine tuberculosis within the United States. The presence of this reservoir host seriously threatens ongoing efforts to eradicate this disease from cattle. Additionally, captive white-tailed deer in the United States may become infected with bovine tuberculosis. New tests for routine surveillance of captive and free-ranging deer are needed. A reliable and easy blood tuberculosis test would enable this strategy to be effective. In the present study, a novel serologic test was developed and evaluated for use with serum from both captive and free-ranging white-tailed deer. Results indicated that the test is useful for the detection of tuberculosis in white-tailed deer. These findings will be useful for the control of bovine tuberculosis in deer, thus, benefiting the cattle industry and potentially decreasing the spread of tuberculosis from deer to cattle.

Technical Abstract: Bovine tuberculosis (TB) in various cervid species remains a significant problem affecting both farmed herds and free-ranging populations. Traditional skin testing was demonstrated to have serious limitations in certain deer species, whereas emerging serological assays showed promising diagnostic performance. One of them, DPP VetTB assay, uses two separate test antigen bands, T1 (MPB83 protein) and T2 (CFP10/ESAT-6 fusion protein) to detect specific IgG antibodies in various host species. The present study evaluated diagnostic accuracy of DPP VetTB assay using serum samples collected serially from groups of white-tailed deer experimentally inoculated with M. bovis, M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis, or M. bovis BCG Pasteur. In addition, we used serum samples of farmed whiter-tailed deer from herds with no history of TB as well as from free-ranging white-tailed deer culled during field surveillance studies performed in Michigan known to have bovine TB in wild deer population. We found that a) DPP VetTB assay detected antibody responses in 58.1% of experimentally infected animals within 8-16 weeks post-inoculation and in 71.9% of naturally infected deer, resulting in the estimated test sensitivity of 65.1%, b) rates of false-positive results was within 2-3% in different study group, with the overall test specificity being 97.8%, c) the higher seroreactivity found in deer with naturally acquired M. bovis infection was associated with increased frequency of antibody responses to ESAT-6 and CFP10 proteins, resulting in greater contribution of T2 band of the DPP VetTB assay to detecting antibody positive animals, as compared with experimental M. bovis infection, and d) deer experimentally inoculated with either M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis, or M. bovis BCG Pasteur did not produce cross-reactive antibodies that could detected by DPP VetTB assay.