Enhancing Food Testing Capabilities at the WVDA through Discipline D: Special Projects Analytical Track 3: Method Development and Validation

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Laboratory Flexible Funding Model FY2020-2021 West Virginia Department of Agriculture Proposal PAR-20-105: LFFM (U19) Clinical Trials Not Allowed Discipline D: Track 3: Special Projects Abstract: Most types of Salmonella cause an illness called salmonellosis, which can cause diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. Symptoms usually begin six hours to six days after infection and last four to seven days. However, some people do not develop symptoms for several weeks after infection and others experience symptoms for several weeks. Salmonella strains sometimes cause infection in urine, blood, bones, joints, or the nervous system (spinal fluid and brain) and can cause severe disease. Salmonella lives in the intestines of people and animals. People can acquire Salmonella infection from a variety of sources, including eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water and touching infected animals, their feces, or their environment. CDC estimates Salmonella cause about 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year. qPCR using the ABI 7500 is a fast and affordable way to obtain real-time test results for an isolate recovered from the normal food testing protocol of the WVDA microbiology laboratory. Adding this level of technology within the Microbiology laboratory at West Virginia Department of Agriculture will allow the department to obtain bacterial data in a real-time setting and assist in faster outbreak detection. The WVDA currently has possession of the ABI 7500 fast and are prepared to join in a multi-lab validation utilizing this technology for Salmonella isolates. The purpose of Discipline D: Track 3, Method Development and Method Validation for period 1 is to participate with other laboratories within this track in a multi-lab validation utilizing a qPCR instrument to further studies of Salmonella isolates within the West Virginia Department of Agriculture Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Division. Building this capacity will include the purchase of accompanying kits, laboratory supplies, and consumables. The inclusion in this multi-lab validation will continue to increase the capabilities and capacity of the microbiology laboratory of the WVDA. In periods two through five of the Laboratory Flexible Funding Model, the WVDA will be committed to FDA assigned projects given in Discipline 5: Track 3 – Method Development and Method Validation. WVDA has extensive experience with method developments and validations and would be an excellent candidate for periods 2 through 5 of this track of the LFFM.