Preliminary Evaluation of a Simple Method for Detection of Bovine Tuberculosis: the Glutaraldehyde Test

Abstract

Summary The glutaraldehyde test (GT) is performed by mixing whole blood with a 1.25 % glutaraldehyde solution. Gelification time is shorter in tuberculous cattle. This test was performed in blood samples obtained from: (a) 48 cattle with bacteriologically confirmed tuberculous lesions; (b) 61 animals with no evidence of tuberculosis at the time of slaughterhouse inspection, 14 of which had hydatid cysts; (c) 260 tuberculin‐negative apparently healthy animals, and (d) 21 cattle, also tuberculin‐negative but serologically positive for brucellosis. Sensitivity for detecting tuberculosis was 85.4 % (41 of 48 animals). The test was negative in 298 out of 307 healthy animals (97.1 % specificity). This specificity decreased when the test was applied in animals whith evidence of diseases other than tuberculosis. This simple, rapid and inexpensive method could play a complementary role to the tuberculin test for detecting tuberculous cattle, especially in endemic areas with scarce resources and facilities.

The Usefulness of Glutaraldehyde Coagulation Test as a Conjuncture Test in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Humans and Animals

“…This was linked to a decreased plasma fibrinogen associated with chronic infections. The results in animals were also similar and were in confirmation with those given by De-Kantor et al (1993). The temperature was found to have an insignificant effect on the results of the test.…”

Glutaraldehyde test for the rapid diagnosis of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in an area with high tuberculosis incidence

“…Since then, some studies have expressed interest in the GT in cattle TB ( de Kantor et al 1993 ). These authors concluded that the GT in cattle is a simple, rapid and inexpensive method that could play a complementary role to the tuberculin test for detecting tuberculous cattle, especially in endemic areas with scarce resources and facilities.…”

An Investigation of the Ability of the Glutaraldehyde Test to Distinguish between Acute and Chronic Inflammatory Disease in Horses

“…The rapid and inexpensive GT has been used with success empirically in Europe for many years for diagnosing inflammatory diseases in cattle [ 38 , 39 , 23 , 33 , 30 , 25 , 43 , 27 , 10 , 18 , 9 , 22 , 29 , 6 , 19 , 17 , 16 , 44 , 42 , 35 ], pigs[ 26 , 12 , 20 ], goats [ 41 , 45 ], mink [ 37 ], dogs [ 40 , 46 ], and zoo animals [ 34 , 5 , 14 ]. In these species, the test was used to indicate whether an inflammatory disease was acute or chronic [ 9 , 6 ].…”

“…The GT, because of its simplicity, is very useful in bovine practice for rapidly diagnosing inflammation under circumstances where it is not practical or economically possible to have blood analyzed at a professional clinical laboratory [ 38 , 39 , 23 , 33 , 30 , 25 , 43 , 27 , 10 , 18 , 9 , 22 , 29 , 6 , 19 , 17 , 16 , 44 , 42 , 35 ].…”