Evaluation of Antibody Tests for Infection in Pigs and Deer.

This study addressed the need in Great Britain for supplementary blood tests for deer and pig herds under movement restrictions due to confirmed infection-to enhance the overall sensitivity and reliability of tuberculosis (TB) testing and contribute to an exit strategy for these herds. We evaluated four antibody tests (lateral flow DPP VetTB Assay for Cervids, IDEXX ELISA, Enferplex Cervid and Porcine antibody tests and an in-house comparative PPD ELISA) using serum samples from defined cohorts of TB-infected and TB-free deer and pigs. TB-infected deer included two separate cohorts; farmed deer that had received a tuberculin skin test less than 30 days prior, and park deer that had received no prior skin test.

Uptake of baits by wild badgers: Influences of deployment method, badger age and activity patterns on potential delivery of an oral vaccine.

In parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the European badger is a wildlife host for Mycobacterium bovis (the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis). Badger vaccination is one management option for reducing disease spread. Vaccination is currently achieved by parenteral vaccination of captured badgers, but an oral vaccine delivered in a bait may provide an additional approach in the future.

Estimation of Bait Uptake by Badgers, Using Non-invasive Methods, in the Perspective of Oral Vaccination Against Bovine Tuberculosis in a French Infected Area.

Although France is officially declared free of bovine tuberculosis (TB), infection is still observed in several regions in cattle and wildlife, including badgers (). In this context, vaccinating badgers should be considered as a promising strategy for the reduction in transmission between badgers and other species, and cattle in particular. An oral vaccine consisting of live Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) contained in bait is currently under assessment for badgers, for which testing bait deployment in the field and assessing bait uptake by badgers are required.

Temporal dynamics of intradermal cytokine response to tuberculin in Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccinated cattle using sampling microneedles.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a disease of livestock with severe and worldwide economic, animal welfare and zoonotic consequences. Application of test-and-slaughter-based control polices reliant on tuberculin skin testing has been the mainstay of bTB control in cattle. However, little is known about the temporal development of the bovine tuberculin skin test response at the dermal sites of antigen injection.

A molecularly defined skin test reagent for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis compatible with vaccination against Johne's Disease.

Tuberculin Purified Protein Derivatives (PPDs) exhibit multiple limitations: they are crude extracts from mycobacterial cultures with largely unknown active components; their production depends on culture of mycobacteria requiring expensive BCL3 production facilities; and their potency depends on the technically demanding guinea pig assay. To overcome these limitations, we developed a molecularly defined tuberculin (MDT) by adding further antigens to our prototype reagent composed of ESAT-6, CFP-10 and Rv3615c (DIVA skin test, DST). In vitro screening using PBMC from infected and uninfected cattle shortlisted four antigens from a literature-based list of 18 to formulate the MDT.