Bovine Tuberculosis in a Nebraska Herd of Farmed Elk and Fallow Deer: A Failure of the Tuberculin Skin Test and Opportunities for Serodiagnosis

Waters, W. Ray; Stevens, Gary E.; Schoenbaum, Mark A.; Orloski, Kathy A.; Robbe‐Austerman, Suelee; Harris, Natalie; Hall, S. Mark; Thomsen, Bruce V.; Wilson, Arach J.; Brannian, Roger E.; Nelson, Jeffrey T.; Schafer, Shawn; Esfandiari, Javan; Dutton, Meghan; Greenwald, Rena; Lyashchenko, Konstantin P.

doi:10.4061/2011/953985

Cited by 34 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Similar observations were recently made in a study of an outbreak of M. bovis infection in a mixed herd of elk and fallow deer in Nebraska (42) in which the tuberculin skin test failed to detect most of the infected animals with gross lesions and positive culture found at postmortem examination, whereas the antibody assays showed encouraging diagnostic potential.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Diagnostic Value of Animal-Side Antibody Assays for Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium microti Infection in South American Camelids

Lyashchenko

Greenwald

Esfandiari

et al. 2011

Clin Vaccine Immunol

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Tuberculosis (TB) in South American camelids (SAC) is caused byMycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium microti. Two serological methods, rapid testing (RT) and the dual-path platform (DPP) assay, were evaluated using naturally infected SAC. The study population included 156 alpacas and 175 llamas in Great Britain, Switzerland, and the United States. TB due to M. bovis (n ‫؍‬ 44) or M. microti (n ‫؍‬ 8) in 35 alpacas and 17 llamas was diagnosed by gross pathology examination and culture. Control animals were from herds with no TB history. The RT and the DPP assay showed sensitivities of 71% and 74%, respectively, for alpacas, while the sensitivity for llamas was 77% for both assays. The specificity of the DPP assay (98%) was higher than that of RT (94%) for llamas; the specificities of the two assays were identical (98%) for alpacas. When the two antibody tests were combined, the parallel-testing interpretation (applied when either assay produced a positive result) enhanced the sensitivities of antibody detection to 89% for alpacas and 88% for llamas but at the cost of lower specificities (97% and 93%, respectively), whereas the serial-testing interpretation (applied when both assays produced a positive result) maximized the specificity to 100% for both SAC species, although the sensitivities were 57% for alpacas and 65% for llamas. Over 95% of the animals with evidence of TB failed to produce skin test reactions, thus confirming concerns about the validity of this method for testing SAC. The findings suggest that serological assays may offer a more accurate and practical alternative for antemortem detection of camelid TB.Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most challenging and widespread zoonotic diseases in many countries (5,6,34). Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis are the primary etiologic agents for human and bovine TB, respectively (8,30,39). M. bovis in particular is also known to cause TB in a broad range of domestic and wild mammal species (24,35). Infections with M. bovis have been shown to affect both New and Old World species of camelids (14,36,44,45). Tuberculosis in South American camelids (SAC), particularly in alpacas and llamas, has recently gained particular attention in Europe and in the United States, where these animals are being increasingly traded and kept in growing numbers as an alternative livestock industry (1). In recent years, M. bovis infections have been documented in alpaca and llama herds in parts of Europe, such as Great Britain (GB) (7, 37, 38), Ireland (32), and Spain (11), where this infection is endemic in cattle and wildlife. Also, SAC are known to be susceptible to M. microti, another member of the M. tuberculosis complex that can cause generalized disease with a fatal outcome in SAC (26,29,46). These infections are usually difficult to recognize in live animals because of the lack of reliable antemortem diagnostic tests and the nonspecific nature of the clinical signs of TB (4, 12). The intradermal tuberculin test is used in many countries, but that method is...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Diagnostic Value of Animal-Side Antibody Assays for Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium microti Infection in South American Camelids

Lyashchenko

Greenwald

Esfandiari

et al. 2011

Clin Vaccine Immunol

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“…The dual-path platform (DPP) VetTB assay was developed by using Chembio DPP technology for the rapid detection of a specific antibody in the laboratory or, if needed, animal side under field conditions. This immunoassay has been recently evaluated in elk, red deer, and fallow deer (9,11,13). In the present report, we describe the diagnostic performance of the DPP VetTB assay in white-tailed deer experimentally or naturally infected with M. bovis.…”

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confidence: 97%

Rapid Detection of Serum Antibody by Dual-Path Platform VetTB Assay in White-Tailed Deer Infected with Mycobacterium bovis

Lyashchenko

Greenwald

Esfandiari

et al. 2013

Clin Vaccine Immunol

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Bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cervids remains a significant problem affecting farmed herds and wild populations. Traditional skin testing has serious limitations in certain species, whereas emerging serological assays showed promising diagnostic performance. The recently developed immunochromatographic dual-path platform (DPP) VetTB assay has two antigen bands, T1 (MPB83 protein) and T2 (CFP10/ESAT-6 fusion protein), for antibody detection. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of this test by using serum samples collected from groups of white-tailed deer experimentally inoculated with Mycobacterium bovis, M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis, or M. bovis BCG Pasteur. In addition, we used serum samples from farmed white-tailed deer in 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 the wild deer population. The DPP VetTB assay detected antibody responses in 58.1% of experimentally infected animals within 8 to 16 weeks postinoculation and in 71.9% of naturally infected deer, resulting in an estimated test sensitivity of 65.1% and a specificity of 97.8%. The higher seroreactivity found in deer with naturally acquired M. bovis infection was associated with an increased frequency of antibody responses to the ESAT-6 and CFP10 proteins, resulting in a greater contribution of these antigens, in addition to MPB83, to the detection of seropositive animals, compared with experimental M. bovis infection. Deer experimentally inoculated with either M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis or M. bovis BCG Pasteur did not produce cross-reactive antibodies that could be detected by the DPP VetTB assay. The present findings demonstrate the relatively high diagnostic accuracy of the DPP VetTB test for white-tailed deer, especially in the detection of naturally infected animals. Mycobacterium bovis, the cause of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle, can also infect a broad range of other mammalian host species, including cervids. Free-ranging deer are known to play a role as wildlife reservoirs of M. bovis infection (1, 2), whereas farmed deer are reportedly involved in disease transmission to cattle (3, 4) and to humans (5, 6). In the last decade, M. bovis outbreaks in captive cervids have been increasingly found in the United States, including multiple herds of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Michigan, elk (Cervus canadensis) in Indiana, a mixed herd of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) in New York, and a farm of elk and fallow deer in Nebraska (7-9).In captive cervids, bovine TB control relies primarily on intradermal tuberculin testing and more rarely on slaughter surveillance. Skin test procedures, however, have not been fully validated for use in various cervid species. These limitations were clearly demonstrated in the recent M. bovis outbreak in farmed elk and fallow deer in Nebraska, where only 3/28 animals that had gross lesions and produced positive culture results were reactors in the single c...

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“…This assay format has been evaluated in different host species infected with M. tuberculosis complex organisms to demonstrate the promising potential for multispecies applications (2,3,4,18,28,29). The goal of the present work was to evaluate the predictive diagnostic value of three serologic methods, the ElephantTB STAT-PAK kit, MAPIA, and DPP VetTB assay, in a group of selected elephants which were identified as antibody positive when routinely tested by serology and eventually diagnosed with TB by culture.…”

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Field Application of Serodiagnostics To Identify Elephants with Tuberculosis prior to Case Confirmation by Culture

Lyashchenko¹,

Greenwald²,

Esfandiari³

et al. 2012

Clin. Vaccine Immunol.

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Three serologic methods for antibody detection in elephant tuberculosis (TB), the multiantigen print immunoassay (MAPIA), ElephantTB STAT-PAK kit, and DPP VetTB test, were evaluated using serial serum samples from 14 captive elephants infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 5 countries. In all cases, serological testing was performed prior to the diagnosis of TB by mycobacterial culture of trunk wash or tissue samples collected at necropsy. All elephants produced antibody responses to M. tuberculosis antigens, with 13/14 recognizing ESAT-6 and/or CFP10 proteins. The findings supported the high serodiagnostic test accuracy in detecting infections months to years before M. tuberculosis could be isolated from elephants. The MAPIA and/or DPP VetTB assay demonstrated the potential for monitoring antimycobacterial therapy and predicting TB relapse in treated elephants when continuously used in the posttreatment period. History of exposure to TB and past treatment information should be taken into consideration for proper interpretation of the antibody test results. Data suggest that the more frequent trunk wash culture testing of seropositive elephants may enhance the efficiency of the TB diagnostic algorithm, leading to earlier treatment with improved outcomes.

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Bovine Tuberculosis in a Nebraska Herd of Farmed Elk and Fallow Deer: A Failure of the Tuberculin Skin Test and Opportunities for Serodiagnosis

Cited by 34 publications

References 21 publications

Diagnostic Value of Animal-Side Antibody Assays for Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium microti Infection in South American Camelids

Diagnostic Value of Animal-Side Antibody Assays for Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium microti Infection in South American Camelids

Rapid Detection of Serum Antibody by Dual-Path Platform VetTB Assay in White-Tailed Deer Infected with Mycobacterium bovis

Field Application of Serodiagnostics To Identify Elephants with Tuberculosis prior to Case Confirmation by Culture

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