Development of a shortlist-and-test diagnostic platform for brucellosis in livestock

This project supports Biotangents (Penicuik), IceRobotics (Edinburgh) and Cranfield Univeristy in developing an

advanced pen-side diagnostic test for brucellosis, a highly contagious bacterial infection that primarily affects

livestock and poses an additional and significant threat to humans as a zoonotic disease. While Great Britain is

officially brucellosis free, prevalence of the disease has been increasing in China in both animals and humans in

recent years. Efficacy of antibiotics to treat brucellosis is variable. Biotangents will develop an accurate pen-

side test to facilitate the identification of infected animals and allow the spread of the disease in livestock

populations to be better controlled and the risk of transmission to humans, and subsequent demand for

antibiotics for treatment, to be reduced. This will be tested in China alongside IceRobotics' behavioural

monitoring platform that is able to monitor individual animal health status and shortlist those that may have acquired the disease.