Rapid, Sensitive And Accurate Diagnostic Testing
A revolution in the detection of mycobacterial infections in commercial livestock and humans.
Streamlined, Easy-to-use, Specific & Sensitive Testing Products
Mycobacteria
Mycobacteria are the cause of numerous, sometimes life threatening diseases in commercial livestock and humans.
Dairy and beef cattle are vulnerable to a number of mycobacterial infections which commonly reduce milk yield and liveweight gain, but which can also lead to death and, importantly, can also infect humans. Bovine tuberculosis, a notifiable disease in cattle, and Johne’s disease are endemic globally and the cause of significant losses to famers.
Current diagnostic techniques for both diseases are complicated, can lack specificity but more often sensitivity, which means that they miss infected animals that then go on to infect other members of the herd or humans.
In humans, the limitations of current diagnostic techniques severely impede the rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases such as Tuberculosis and Leprosy, leading to poor patient outcomes and continued community spread of disease.
The Power of Bacteriophages
Rapid-Myco Technologies Limited (RMT) has developed a ground-breaking and patented Phagomagnetic separation (PhMS)-qPCR diagnostic technology that can detect ‘active’ mycobacterial infections in humans and livestock quickly (≤ 8hrs) and with exquisite sensitivity and specificity.
The PhMS-qPCR platform harnesses the power of a naturally occurring bacteriophage to ‘home in’ on their target mycobacteria in a sample and infect them. The phage then takes over the host cell’s metabolism (if the cell is viable) to replicate itself, before ultimately lysing (bursting) the mycobacterial cell to release host DNA which can then be detected and quantified.
The PhMS-qPCR platform has the potential to revolutionise the early diagnosis of a wide range of mycobacterial infections, but in the detection of human TB and Leprosy the technology will be truly disruptive. Our technology will enable clinicians to confirm active infection faster than has hitherto been possible and then prescribe the most effective antibiotic therapy, resulting in better patient outcomes and more effective disease control.
Livestock Applications
Johne’s disease
Johne’s disease, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), is a chronic, globally endemic contagious disease of the intestinal tract that primarily affects cattle (both dairy and beef), sheep and goats, as well as other ruminant species and occasionally humans.
Bovine Tuberculosis
Growing awareness of the incidence of Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), caused by M. bovis, and its potential as a zoonotic disease has increased the number of diagnostic tests carried out on dairy and beef animals.