Safeguarding public and animal health
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Brucellosis research
Molecular detection
Work in this area focuses on the development of real-time PCR assays to detect Brucella rapidly and reliably in field samples such as blood, milk or animal tissues.
Molecular epidemiology
Substantial work is carried out to:
- develop improved molecular tools to characterise Brucella isolates.
- to examine the molecular epidemiology of the organism.
A variety of tools are under development providing different levels of epidemiological resolution. These include tools such as multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and AFLP (amplified-fragment length polymorphism) that are useful for examining the global epidemiology of Brucella.
Higher resolution tools, particularly VNTR (variable number of tandem repeat) typing, are also being developed to facilitate epidemiological traceback and potentially help identify the source of an infection.
A further expanding area of work is the use of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to develop rapid multiplex diagnostic assays for Brucella.
Improved serodiagnosis
The routine surveillance and monitoring required to maintain and confirm Great Britain's officially brucellosis free (OBF) status is currently achieved via immunodiagnostic tests. Our research team work on the development and evaluation of new assays to detect and quantify specific immune responses and alternative biomarkers of infection, in order to ensure rapid and accurate detection of brucellosis in livestock.
In particular we are developing assays that enhance diagnostic specificity, to facilitate discrimination of vaccinated and infected animals and reduce the impact of false positive serological reactors.
Vaccine development
Vaccination is a valuable tool in the control of infectious disease. We are engaged in research to develop novel non-living vaccines that are safe (non-infectious) and efficacious and promote immune response that do not interfere with statutory diagnostic tests. Our vaccines are intended to protect both animals and man against infection with Brucella.