Location: Genomics and Bioinformatics Research
Project Number: 6066-21310-005-055-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2021
End Date: May 31, 2023
Objective:
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) complex is an economically important complex of diseases caused by transport stress and bacterial and viral pathogens including Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Histophilus somni, and Mycoplasma bovis. The ability to rapidly identify sick cattle before the onset of severe disease would enable the targeted, limited use of antibiotics.
Approach:
We propose to analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath to detect early-stage pulmonary immune response and specific pathogen metabolites. Breath VOC analysis is being applied in human medicine to diagnose bacterial infection, cancer, and metabolic disorders. VOC’s will be detected using a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). These instruments sample at 0.1 second time resolution and can detect typical organics VOCs in the parts-per-trillion range.