ARS | Publication request: SEROLOGICAL RESPONSES OF CERVIDS (CERVUS ELAPHUS) EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED WITH MYCOBACTERIUM BOVIS: POTENTIAL FOR SERODIAGNOSIS

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 6, 2006
Publication Date: August 6, 2006
Citation: Prescott, J.F., Harrington, N.P., Waters, W.R., Lyashchenko, K.P., Greenwald, R., Surujballi, O. 2006. Serological Responses of cervids (Cervus elaphus) experimentally infected with Mycobacterium bovis: Potential for serodiagnosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians. 2006 Annual Conference of the Wildlife Disease Association and the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, August 6-10, 2006, Storrs, CT. 2006 CDROM.

Technical Abstract: One of the greatest threats to any control program of domestic animals is the infection of wildlife maintenance hosts which may re-introduce infection to livestock. North American Cervidae including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and elk (Cervus elaphus) have emerged as wildlife reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis infection of cattle. Methods to detect M. bovis infection of wildlife species with improved sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility are required. Although serological tests are appealing because they are rapid and inexpensive, they have, to date, lacked sufficient sensitivity to be used as a single assay. There is a need, therefore, to identify antigens of diagnostic utility that can be used to improve sensitivity without jeopardizing specificity. In this study, we characterized antibody responses of red deer/elk (Cervus elaphus) hybrids experimentally infected with M. bovis. Sequential serum samples were collected and three immunoassays to a variety of crude and recombinant antigens were used to analyze the developing humoral response. All M. bovis-infected deer developed responses with one or more of the antigens. Nine of ten deer (90%) had responses to the MPB83 protein and eight of ten (80%) developed responses to the fusion protein Acr1/MPB83. Other proteins identified as major seroreactive antigens included ESAT-6, CFP-10 and MPB70. Although the immunodominant response of infected deer was to the MPB83 protein, there was a significant animal-to-animal variation of antigen recognition patterns. These results suggest that a small number of selected antigens hold promise for use in a sensitive serodiagnostic test for the detection of tuberculosis in cervids.