Funding awarded to develop rapid TB detector
“The impact of TB is devastating, so developing a rapid diagnosis method could be truly transformative” – Glyn Hewinson.
A project to develop a new point-of-care TB detector for humans and animals that can produce a result within one hour has received almost £1.2 million in funding.
The project, led by Adrian Porch of Cardiff University and involving researchers from Aberystwyth University, has received the funding from UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The new technology is expected to be quicker than both PCR and microscopy testing and will be able to be used by healthcare workers, veterinary surgeons and farmers.
The interdisciplinary research team includes experts in veterinary medicine, microbiology, and microwave and photonic engineering.
Bovine TB continues to have a significant impact on cattle farms in the UK. Efforts to eradicate the disease through surveillance, diagnostic testing, badger culling and vaccination cost the UK government around £100 million per year.
TB also remains a major cause of death in humans worldwide. Around 10 million human infections are recorded each year, leading to around 1.8 million deaths annually.
Les Baillie, professor of microbiology at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University and co-lead on the project, said: “Tuberculosis is a particular problem for farmers in Wales who have seen bovine TB decimate herds across the country. Diagnosis of the early stages of infection is challenging due to the lack of rapid, accurate tests.
“To address this, we are working with colleagues from Aberystwyth University to advance the development of a real-time test capable to detecting the presence of the pathogen in clinical and environmental samples.”
Glyn Hewinson, Sêr Cymru research chair in the Centre of Excellence for Bovine Tuberculosis at Aberystwyth University, added: “The impact of TB is devastating, so developing a rapid diagnosis method could be truly transformative.
“Eliminating the human TB epidemic by 2050 is a key UN Sustainable Development Goal, and the World Health Organization highlights the need for more effective rapid diagnostic tests as a critical step.”
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With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
