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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #303444
Title: Head space analysis to non-invasively distinguish between vaccinated and bovine tuberculosis-infected white-tailed deer

Author
item STAHL, RANDAL - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item ELLIS, CHRISTINE - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item NOL, PAULINE - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item Waters, Wade
item Palmer, Mitchell
item VERCAUTEREN, KURT - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2014
Publication Date: 6/22/2014
Citation: Stahl, R.S., Ellis, C.K., Nol, P., Waters, W.R., Palmer, M.V., Vercauteren, K.C. 2014. Head space analysis to non-invasively distinguish between vaccinated and bovine tuberculosis-infected white-tailed deer [abstract]. Abstract No. 35.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: White-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) can act as a reservoir for bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, and can be a source of infection in cattle. Presently, no method exists to noninvasively monitor the presence of bTB in wildlife. In addition, due to similarities between vaccine and virulent M. bovis, vaccinating deer against bTB is complicated by the inability of current detection methods to distinguish between vaccinated and bTB-infected deer. In this study, VOC profiles of vaccinated and unvaccinated WTD, before and after M. bovis infection, were generated using SPME fiber-head space sampling over suspended fecal pellets with analysis by GC/MS. Chromatograms were processed using XCMSOnline to characterize ion variation among treatment groups. The principal component scores resulting from significant (a=0.05) ion responses were used to build linear discriminant analysis models. The sensitivity and specificity of these models were used to evaluate the feasibility of using this analytical approach to distinguish between the treatment groups. For male deer, it was possible to distinguish between vaccinated and non-vaccinated deer, prior to and following experimental infection with M. bovis. An overview of the study, details of the analytical method, and the statistical approach for processing the data will be presented.