Project team
- Geoffrey Gobert, Queen's University Belfast (UK)
- Hu Wei, Fudan University (China)
- Mark Eisler, University of Bristol (UK)
- James LaCourse, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK)
- Russell Stothard, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (UK)
- Jahashi Nzalawahe, Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania)
UN Sustainable Development Goals addressed
- Goal 2: Zero Hunger
- Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Abstract
Diagnostics for many helminth parasitic diseases currently rely on low sensitivity, low throughput, microscopic methods. The blood fluke Schistosoma bovis is responsible for significant pathology and reduction in productivity in cattle across large regions of Africa, including Tanzania. The detection of similar damaging pathogens in China have been improved through the development of next generation molecular based diagnostics. New diagnostics such as lateral flow assays (LFA), represent a medium throughput technology, with excellent sensitivity for the detection of active disease.
Our project will expedite the exchange of technologies originally developed for the detection of the related human disease S. japonicum in China, to address the African disease caused by S. bovis in cattle. Protein expression and purification, assay construction and laboratory validation will take place in Queen’s University Belfast (QUB).
Field collections (at least 100 bovine samples across 5 villages), traditional parasitological monitoring and eventual field validation of the new assay will occur in Tanzania, led by local researchers from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTMED).
The last activity in Tanzania, the testing of a POC-RDT (point-of-care rapid-diagnostic-test), will be a major outcome of the project. The LFA platform will also be improved to a higher throughput capacity by researchers in China (Fudan University). This high throughput approach will develop the already established and validated S. japonicum LFA, to further screen microarray/microchips. The African assay will also be developed for a microarray platform.
Outcomes for this project will be the development of next generation diagnostics for a major disease in Africa. Diagnostics are critical for the assurance of good quality beef and dairy in these regions. Implications for human health will be investigated due to the potential zoonotic nature of the disease and the increasing prevalence of hybrid species.