13TSB_ACT: Evaluation of MALDI-TOF-MS to differentiate sub species of the pathogen S uberis to provide an improved approach to mastitis control

牛乳房炎是一种乳房炎症性疾病，是全球奶牛养殖业可持续发展的主要障碍。牛乳房炎对健康、福利、经济和环境的影响是严重的。这是农场死亡和过早扑杀的最常见原因。临床乳房炎的发病率为每年60/100头奶牛，仅在英国每年就有100多万头奶牛受到影响。奶牛乳房炎的治疗和控制占所有抗生素使用的30%以上。在英国，每年的损失超过1.7亿英镑；占疾病总直接成本的38%。因此，乳房炎极大地降低了奶牛养殖场的效率，增加了对乳房炎动物的淘汰率，对环境和实现国家和国际粮食安全的努力产生了不利影响，同时在牛身上使用抗生素也可能传播对影响人类健康的细菌的耐药性。乳房炎是由细菌感染引起的，细菌通过乳头通道进入乳腺。控制乳房炎的主要前提是通过减少细菌病原体进入乳房的传播来最大限度地减少感染的风险。为了控制乳房炎，有必要了解细菌感染是如何以及何时发生的，以及病原体是如何引起感染的。虽然只有几种细菌通常会引起牛乳房炎，但现在人们认识到，这些细菌的亚种(菌株)在疾病传播和结果方面的行为方式不同。本研究的目的是建立一种根据最常见的乳房炎病原菌S的传播特性来区分其菌株的方法。为此，将使用一种现代的高通量质谱学方法(基质辅助激光解吸电离/飞行时间质谱仪-MALDI-TOF-MS)来区分S绿脓杆菌的菌株。这些菌株将根据它们引起乳房炎的方式和疾病转归进行分组。然后，这些信息将被用于乳房炎控制计划，其中将包括减少农场抗生素的使用。如果成功，他的研究将为一种新的、改进的奶牛乳房炎控制方法而自豪。这将有利于奶农(降低疾病成本)、兽医和顾问(提高就乳房炎控制提供建议的能力)、乳品业(通过减少乳房炎改善可持续性、福利和形象)以及消费者(改善奶牛福利和食品安全)。

Bovine mastitis is an inflammatory disease of the udder and is a major barrier to the sustainability of dairy farmingworldwide. The health, welfare, economic and environmental impacts of bovine mastitis are severe. It is the most commoncause of on-farm death and premature culling. With an incidence rate of clinical mastitis of 60/100 cows/year more thanone million cows are affected per annum in the UK alone. Mastitis treatment and control accounts for over 30% of allantibiotic use in dairy cattle. Annual losses exceed £170M in the UK; 38% of the total direct costs of disease. Thereforemastitis substantially reduces the efficiency of dairy farming and an increased rate of culling of mastitic animals adverselyaffects the environment and the drive towards national and international food security, while antibiotic use in cattle mayalso spread resistance to bacteria that impact on human health.Mastitis is caused by a bacterial infection; the bacteria enter the mammary gland via the teat canal. The central premise ofmastitis control is to minimise the risk of infection by reducing transmission of bacterial pathogens into the udder. In orderto control mastitis, it is necessary to understand how and when bacterial infections occur and how the pathogens cause aninfection. Although only a few species of bacteria commonly cause bovine mastitis, it is now recognised that sub species(strains) of these bacteria behave in different ways in terms of disease transmission and outcome. The aim of this researchis to develop a method to differentiate strains of the most common mastitis pathogen, S uberis, according to their diseasetransmission characteristics. To do this, a modern, high throughput method of mass spectrometry (matrix-assisted laserdesorption ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry - MALDI-TOF-MS) will be used to differentiate strains of S uberis.These strains will be grouped according to how they cause mastitis and the outcome of disease. This information will thenbe used to inform mastitis control programmes which will include reduced use of antibiotics on farm.If successful, his research will pride a new and improved approach to mastitis control in dairy cows. This would be to thebenefit of dairy farmers (reduced disease costs), veterinary surgeons and advisors (improved ability to advise on mastitiscontrol), the dairy industry (improved sustainability, welfare and image by reducing mastitis) and consumers (improved cowwelfare and food security).