Comparison of Three Immunological Diagnostic Tests for the Detection of Avian Tuberculosis in Naturally Infected Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus)

Abstract

Abstract. Cases of tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium in 52 adult red deer (Cervus elaphus) from a farm were studied using different diagnostic techniques. Immunological probes consisted of the comparative cervical tuberculin (CCT) skin test, the interferon-c (IFN-c) assay, and 2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) employing either avian purified protein derivatives or protoplasmatic antigen (PPA-3) as antigens. Three of the animals were euthanized due to severe weakness, loss of weight, and emaciation. Macroscopically, the 3 animals showed tuberculous lesions located mainly in lymph nodes of the digestive system and small intestine but also in other organs and lymph nodes. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out on samples from the 3 deer using primers to detect IS901, IS900, and IS6110, specific for Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, including Mycobacterium bovis, respectively. The last 2 agents cause pathologies very similar to avian tuberculosis in deer. The 3 deer were strongly positive by both ELISAs, slightly positive by the IFN-c test, and 1 of 2 was positive by the CCT test. As with domestic ruminants, ELISA could detect deer in an advanced stage of infection, with large numbers of mycobacteria.

Nanoparticle based DNA biosensor for tuberculosis detection using thermophilic helicase-dependent isothermal amplification

“…Specific fragments within the sequence (130-500 bp) have been widely used for PCR protocols targeting M. tuberculosis complex (MTC) species (Dalovisio et al, 1996;Fernandez et al, 2009). The tHDA primers were designed considering the optimal conditions for isothermal amplification (IsoAmp II Universal tHDA kit, biohelix).…”

Prevalence of Bovine Tuberculosis in Egyptian Cattle and the Standardization of the Interferon-gamma Assay as an Ancillary Test

“…The other method is through slaughter surveillance that is entirely based on meat inspection at the slaughterhouse. The SCT has practical drawbacks such as subjectivity in result interpretation (the interpretation is based on observation and the recorded increases in skin‐fold thickness) and lack of specificity (false‐positive reactions caused by sensitization by other mycobacteria and by local inflammation) (Rua‐Domenech et al., ; Good et al., ; Fernández et al., ; Humblet et al., ; Bezos et al., ). The single comparative cervical tuberculin test (SCIT) is not used by the GOVs due to the lack of financial support.…”

Mycobacterium avium Complex in Domestic and Wild Animals

“…The test can detect the most severe infections in multibacillar lesions but shows lower sensitivity in animals with paucibacillar lesions [84]. One important disadvantage is the inability to distinguish be-tween different mycobacterial infections probably due to close antigenic relationship between Maa and Map [95].…”

“…The tuberculin test and the haemagglutination test (stained antigen) are the immunological methods most frequently used for export testing [74]. In the stained antigen test an antigen stained with 1% malachite green is used for the rapid blood plate agglutination test [96].The diagnosis of Mycobacterial infections in live wild animals remains a challenge [95]. The comparative cervical tuberculin (CCT) skin test has been applied in wild animals such as in cervids [97], but the test presents two major limitations.…”

“…The comparative cervical tuberculin (CCT) skin test has been applied in wild animals such as in cervids [97], but the test presents two major limitations. It has been proved that CCT cannot detect some stages of infection [98], and wild ruminants must be captured twice increasing the stress and the risk of accidents for the animals and for handlers [95]. Alternative probes like the detection of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) assay and ELISA, which employ blood and serum respectively, could be an alternative in wild animals [95].…”