Technological advances in veterinary diagnostics: opportunities to deploy rapid decentralised tests to detect pathogens affecting livestock
Revue Scientifique et Technique publish this investigation article
August 1st, 2017
Sustainable food production capable of feeding a growing human population is a significant global challenge, and is a priority encompassed within the United Nations Millennium Development Goal to `eradicate extreme poverty and hunger`. Infectious diseases reduce the productivity of farm animals, and the globalised trade of animals and their products increases the threat of disease incursion. Accurate and rapid diagnostic tests are an essential component of contingency plans to detect, control and eradicate such diseases. Diagnosis involves a `pipeline` that normally starts with clinical suspicion, followed by collecting samples, transporting specimens to a centralised laboratory setting (e.g. national/international Reference Laboratories), analysing these samples using a range of diagnostic tests and reporting the results. However, the transport of specimens from the field to the laboratory can be a lengthy process that can delay critical decision-making and severely affect the quality of the samples. This important limitation of centralised diagnostic testing has motivated the development of tools for the rapid, simple detection of livestock pathogens. Recent advances in the development of technologies for personalised human medicine have motivated the development of prototype diagnostic tests for a wide selection of diseases of livestock. However, many of these tests are not yet routinely used or commercially available. This paper critically reviews the most promising examples of such assays, and highlights the challenges that remain to transition these tests from applied research and development into routine use
Howson ELA., Soldan A., Webster K., Beer M., Zientara S., Belak S., Sanchez-Vizcaino JM., Van Borm S., King DP. and Fowler VL.
| Pirbright Laboratory. | |
 | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS). U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). |
 | Institute of Diagnostic Virology. Friedrich Loeffler Institut-Bundesforschungsinstitut fuer Tiergesundheit (FLI). |
| Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). | |
 | Servicio de Inmunología Viral y Medicina Preventiva (SUAT). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
| Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). |
 | Centrum voor Onderzoek in Diergeneeskunde en Agrochemie- Centre d´Etude et de Recherches Vétérinaires et Agrochimiques (CODA-CERVA). |
