IDENTIFICATION OF IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS FOR BRUCELLA SUIS VIA SCREENING WITH A BRUCELLA PAN-PROTEOME MICROARRAY AND ELISA PROTOTYPES FOR USDA

Our goal is to develop an affordable serological test for improved sensitive and specific detection of B. suis infection in swine and cattle which will lessen the financial burden of farmers and to contribute to the eradication of Brucella infection of livestock in the US. We propose to test a large set of swine and bovine culture-confirmed B. suis positive samples with a series of brucellosis serologic tests for further characterization. These well characterized samples will then be screened on the world's first pan-Brucella proteome microarray created by ADI to identify novel diagnostic antigen candidates for B. suis infection. We will further validate the identified biomarker candidates in an ELISA format, confirm improved sensitivity and specificity, and then provide ELISA prototypes to USDA for further in-house testing.