SummaryBurkholderia mallei is the aetiological agent of glanders, a highly contagious and reemerging zoonotic disease. Early diagnosis of glanders is critically important to ensure timely treatment with appropriate antibiotics in humans, and to prevent spread of infection in animals. Molecular detection of B. mallei has always been troublesome because of its genetic similarity with Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. In present investigation, a set of six B. mallei-specific primers were designed and a simple, rapid, specific and sensitive real-time loopmediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for detection of B. mallei. The LAMP assay could detect as low as 1 pg of B. mallei genomic DNA and 5.5 9 10 3 CFU/ml of B. mallei in spiked human blood. The assay was highly specific for B. mallei as it did not cross-react with other bacterial strains used in the study. The established LAMP assay is field adaptable and can be a better and viable alternative to PCR-based techniques for detection of B. mallei in glanders endemic areas with resource-limited settings.
Glanders is a contagious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia mallei. The number of equine glanders outbreaks has increased steadily during the last decade. The disease must be reported to the Office International des Epizooties, Paris, France. Glanders serodiagnosis is hampered by the considerable number of false positives and negatives of the internationally prescribed tests. The major problem leading to the low sensitivity and specificity of the complement fixation test (CFT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been linked to the test antigens currently used, i.e., crude preparations of whole cells. False-positive results obtained from other diagnostic tests utilizing crude antigens lead to financial losses to animal owners, and false-negative results can turn a risk into a possible threat. In this study, we report on the identification of diagnostic targets using bioinformatics tools for serodiagnosis of glanders. The identified gene sequences were cloned and expressed as recombinant proteins. The purified recombinant proteins of B. mallei were used in an indirect ELISA format for serodiagnosis of glanders. Two recombinant proteins, 0375H and 0375TH, exhibited 100% sensitivity and specificity for glanders diagnosis. The proteins also did not cross-react with sera from patients with the closely related disease melioidosis. The results of this investigation highlight the potential of recombinant 0375H and 0375TH proteins in specific and sensitive diagnosis of glanders.
Summary Burkholderia mallei, a potential biothreat agent is the aetiological agent of glanders, a zoonotic disease primarily affecting equines. B. mallei shares close genetic proximity with B. pseudomallei, the aetiological agent of melioidosis. Hence, molecular detection of B. mallei and its differentiation from B. pseudomallei has always been challenging. Early diagnosis of glanders is critical for timely treatment in humans and disease containment in animals. In this study a recombinase polymerase amplification‐lateral flow (RPA‐LF) assay has been developed for early and accurate detection of B. mallei. RPA‐LF assay was found to be highly sensitive and detected as low as 10 fg genomic DNA of B. mallei. The assay was highly specific and could differentiate B. mallei and B. pseudomallei. The assay also detected B. mallei in artificially spiked blood, tap water and garden soil. The established assay is simple, rapid and does not require complex instrumentation. The field deployable assay can have better implications in rapid glanders diagnosis and environmental detection of B. mallei over PCR‐based detection tools in glanders endemic areas with limited laboratory resources.
Brucellosis is a disease with worldwide distribution affecting animals and human beings. Brucella abortus is the causative agent of bovine brucellosis. The cross-reactions of currently available diagnostic procedures for B. abortus infection result in false-positive reactions, which make the procedures unreliable. These tests are also unable to differentiate Brucella-infected and -vaccinated animals. The present work is focused on the use of a nonlipopolysaccharide (LPS) diagnostic antigen, a recombinant 10-kDa (r10-kDa) protein of B. abortus, for specific diagnosis of brucellosis. The purified recombinant protein was used as a diagnostic antigen in plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (p-ELISA) format to screen 408 bovine serum samples (70 presumptively negative, 308 random, and 30 vaccinated), and the results were compared with those of the Rose Bengal plate agglutination test (RBPT) and the standard tube agglutination test (STAT). Statistical analysis in presumptive negative samples revealed 100 and 98.41% specificity of p-ELISA with RBPT and STAT, and an agreement of 91.43% with the tests using Cohen's kappa statistics. In random samples, the agreement of p-ELISA was 77.92% and 80.52% with RBPT and STAT, respectively. p-ELISA investigation of vaccinated samples reported no false-positive results, whereas RBPT and STAT reported 30% and 96.6% false-positive results, respectively. The data suggest that p-ELISA with r10-kDa protein may be a useful method for diagnosis of bovine brucellosis. Furthermore, p-ELISA may also be used as a tool for differentiating Brucella-vaccinated and naturally infected animals.Brucellosis, a contagious disease primarily affecting animals, is caused by members of the genus Brucella, namely, Brucella abortus (cattle, bison, and buffalo), B. melitensis (goats and sheep), B. suis (swine), B. canis (dogs), B. ovis (sheep), and B. neotomae (rodents). Bovine brucellosis is caused by biovars of B. abortus. The disease is asymptomatic in animals that have not conceived. Following infection with B. abortus, pregnant adult females develop placentitis, resulting in abortion between the fifth and ninth months of pregnancy and infertility. Adult male cattle may develop orchitis, leading to infertility. Brucellosis has zoonotic potential in terms of its transmissibility to human beings attending infected livestock, showing symptoms in the form of low-grade undulant fever, night sweats, early fatigue, joint pain leading to spondylitis, and orchitis, and it is commonly known as "undulant fever," "Mediterranean fever," or "Malta fever" (7). The disease remains a public health problem and results in severe economic losses in terms of loss of fetuses and loss of animal products. In India, bovine brucellosis is widespread and appears to be on the increase in recent times, perhaps due to increased trade, free grazing, and the preponderance of natural bull service and rapid movement of livestock (17).Due to its heterogeneous and poorly specific symptoms, diagnosis of brucellosis always requires labora...
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