Diagnostig Ltd

**HERALD (Health Enhancement through Rapid Assessment of Livestock Diseases)** is a collaborative project delivering fast, practical diagnostics for Johne's disease (JD) in cattle, with limited feasibility work preparing the platform for future bovine tuberculosis applications. JD is widespread and costly for dairy and beef producers, undermining animal w...

Although bovine TB in cattle has a very high profile, it is much less widespread than another disease caused by a mycobacterium, Johne's disease. Johne's, caused by _Mycobacterium avium_ paratuberculosis, is an infectious wasting disease which develops very slowly but statistically is present in around 70 % of herds (albeit perhaps in very few animals). T...

"Although infection with _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_, the cause of TB, is very widely studied, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTMs) are much more common in the environment but generally do not present any human health problems. However, they are a significant problem in patients whose immune systems are compromised. Thus, up to 10-20 % of cystic fibrosis ...

Tuberculosis remains one of the most significant causes of death, particularly in individuals co-infected with HIV-AIDS; co-infection can lead to a life expectancy of a few weeks and has, for example, reduced life expectancy in South Africa by around 10 years. Although there are many methods that are supposed to detect the disease, in practice none of the...

We have developed a novel device for the detection of TB which works in under 30 minutes; this is based on the recognition of unique molecules identical to components of the cell walls of mycobacteria by antibodies present in the serum of individuals with active TB. The target set by the World Health Organisation is for a field device that works rapidly a...