**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PORCINE BRUCELLOSIS REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES AS BOTH A DISEASE OF LIVESTOCK AND A HUMAN ZOONOTIC. IN PIGS, THE MOST COMMON CLINICAL SIGNS OF BRUCELLA SUIS INFECTION ARE REPRODUCTIVE LOSSES INCLUDING ABORTIONS, BIRTH OF WEAK PIGLETS AND DECREASED LITTER SIZE. CURRENTLY, FERAL SWINE POPULATIONS ARE ESTIMATED AT OVER 6 MILLION AND RAPIDLY EXPANDING. WHENEVER A DOMESTIC HERD IS FOUND TO BE INFECTED, THAT HERD IS RECLASSIFIED AS TRANSITIONAL SWINE FOR REGULATORY PURPOSES AND CAUSES SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL BURDEN TO THE FARMER. REGULATORY PROGRAMS RELY STRICTLY ON SEROLOGICAL TESTS FOR DETECTION OF SWINE BRUCELLOSIS. CURRENTLY, SEROLOGY CAN ONLY BE APPLIED AT A HERD LEVEL, RATHER THAN ON INDIVIDUAL SWINE, DUE TO A LACK OF SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY IN AVAILABLE SEROLOGY TESTS. IN ADDITION, ISOLATION AND CULTURE OF B. SUIS IS RECOMMENDED TO BE DONE UNDER BIOLEVEL 3 CONTAINMENT FOR PREVENTION OF HUMAN INFECTION; A LEVEL OF CONTAINMENT THAT IS EXPENSIVE AND NOT PRACTICAL IN MOST DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORIES.TO ADDRESS THIS UNMET NEED, ASTATE-OF-THE-ART PROTEOMIC PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY NAMELY PAN-BRUCELLA PROTEOME MICROARRAY WILL BE USED HERE TO IDENTIFY NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC ANTIGEN CANDIDATES FOR THE DETECTION OF B. SUIS INFECTION AND INFECTION BY OTHER BRUCELLA SPECIES. THE IDENTIFIED BIOMARKER CANDIDATES WILL BE SUBSEQUENTLY USED TO DEVELOPMENT A SENSITIVE, SPECIFIC, ROBUST AND RAPID SEROLOGY TEST. THE PROTOYPE WILL BE PROVIDED TO THEUSDA LABS FOR INDEPENDENT VALIDATION.$642,250
· FY2022 · National Institute of Food and Agriculture