Fast and reliable on-site diagnosis of livestock infections
Production of meat (especially chicken) nowadays employs intensive farming technologies, which lead to frequent viral and bacterial diseases. To prohibit early death of animals and promote their growth, the chicken farming sector uses antibiotics. Given the emergence of antibiotic resistance and the transmission of antibiotic residues to humans, the EU’s Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation does not allow the routine use of any antimicrobial medicinal products to compensate for poor hygiene, or inadequate animal husbandry. Therefore, farmers are forced to cut down on antibiotic use. This necessitates improved and rapid diagnosis since traditional microbiology methods are laborious and require a couple of days to produce results.
Mass spectroscopy provides rapid bacterial identification
The aim of the EU-funded RAID project was to address the unmet need for detection of bacterial infections in chicken. Existing methods are either unreliable, expensive or slow. “We developed a veterinary decision support system as an alternative to existing approaches for detecting bacterial infections in poultry within 2 hours at an affordable cost,” emphasises Márton Muhari, project coordinator and CEO of EL-CO Tech. The RAID method uses mass spectroscopy (MS) to identify specific phospholipids present at high concentrations on the outer surface of bacterial cells. It produces ‘molecular fingerprints’ unique for each bacterial species that can be subsequently analysed using MS signal processing methodology. Correlation of these fingerprints with bacterial strains offers a diagnosis and supports veterinary decision on antibiotic use.
Technological advances in bacterial detection
The team made significant technical and methodological advances on the sampling and sample processing steps. In addition, they automatised the mass spectrum evaluation method and extended the algorithm for the detection of several relevant bacterial species. Validation of the sensitivity and accuracy of the RAID method was undertaken on a large number of chicken samples versus standard cultivation and other MS-based solutions. The RAID method reached 99 % accuracy and sensitivity, while the specificity was almost 100 %. “We put together a mobile RAID laboratory in a vehicle that can operate on site and provide immediate data on bacterial infection. This allowed us to collect and analyse samples from different European countries,” states László Lengyel, head of the RAID laboratory.
RAID superiority over other techniques
Apart from a short turnaround time, the RAID solution offers additional advantages, including reliable measurement for anaerobic bacterial species. It is a highly accurate, multiplex approach as it can detect several bacterial species at the same time. It is automated and user friendly at operational level with regard to measurement and data processing. Importantly, the cost is significantly lower compared to other accurate methods, such as polymerase chain reaction, and the method can be integrated into a mobile unit for use at poultry farms. The RAID method has the potential to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics in poultry. In the long term, the team hopes to expand the method to other veterinary applications, such as bovine farming, where antibiotics are also regularly used due to the frequent occurrence of mastitis.
Keywords
RAID, antibiotic, poultry, chicken, bacterial infection, MS, mass spectroscopy, on-site diagnosis
