Periodic Reporting for period 1 - bTB-Test (Volatolomics test for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis)
Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2019-12-31
Bovine tuberculosis is a serious global disease with significant impact on animal health, public health, and international trade. Bovine tuberculosis can be transmitted to humans by drinking unpasteurized milk from an infected cow or eating raw or undercooked meat from an infected animal. Therefore, accurate and efficient detection of bovine tuberculosis in animal populations remains of paramount importance for bovine tuberculosis control programs. The overall objective of this project is the development a new diagnosis test for bovine tuberculosis, suitable for being performed directly on the premises in an inexpensive, fast and non-invasive way, from the analysis of volatile compounds emitted by biological samples such as breath, feces and animals skin.
It was elaborated an optimized protocol for the collection of volatile samples emitted through the breath, feces and skin of cattle. Based on this protocol, 400 animals were samples in different countries from different continents: Romania, Tunisia, Algeria and Colombia. The analytical studies of the samples led to the identification of 6 tentative volatile biomarkers of bovine tuberculosis emitted through cattle breath, 13 tentative volatile biomarkers emitted through cattle feces, and 3 tentative volatile biomarkers emitted through cattle skin.
This is the first time that volatile biomarkers emitted through cattle feces and skin were proposed. The results of this project could lead to a new, non-invasive and faster test for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis in cattle, with great impact on the livestock management.