Development of a rapid cow-side bacteriophage-based diagnostic method for the detection of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis

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Bovine mastitis is an inflammatory condition of the udder, typically caused by bacterial infections in dairy cattle. One of the hardest bacterial pathogens to tackle, responsible for bovine mastitis, is Staphylococcus aureus. This condition has severe economic and societal implications. Economic due to both indirect and direct costs that arise from factors including increased veterinary and labour costs and reduced milk yield and quality. Societal, due to the strains placed on public health, with the overuse of antibiotics in farms, which results to increase in the problem of antimicrobial resistance with negative effects in human health and agriculture. The current methods of diagnosis and treatment require improvement, as these are not always straightforward. In terms of the treatment and because many times the bacterial strain responsible for the infection is hard to be determined, strong broad-spectrum antibiotics are used, which in the long run increase the serious problem of antimicrobial resistance, that is the resistance of bacterial pathogens to antibiotics, posing threats on the public health.It is therefore an urgent need to develop a rapid cow-side test for Bovine mastitis, which would provide a fundamental change in the control and treatment of S. aureus mastitis. We will focus on the detection of infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus.For this purpose, we will use bacteriophages, specific for targeting Staphylococcus aureus, as the basis of the diagnostic method. Bacteriophages are viruses with great specificity to their bacterial host. We will genetically modify these bacteriophages to be made bioluminescent, so that in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus in the samples tested, luminescence will be produced. We will further spray dry these phages to convert those into a powder, which can be easily distributed to individual vials and form the basis of the diagnostic test. The bioluminescent bacteriophages will be optimised and will be further be tested in the field, using biological samples from cows, both in their liquid and powder format, in order to ensure their accuracy and sensitivity. Overall, we aim to develop a rapid cow-side bacteriophage-based diagnostic method for Staphylococcus aureus bovine mastitis.