Rapid detection of Francisella tularensis by the immunoaffinity assay abicap in environmental and human samples.

摘要

Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of tularaemia, a severe zoonotic infectious disease. The natural reservoir of the bacteria is not yet known precisely, but it may persist for over a year in water or mud. It is naturally maintained and spread by various terrestrial and aquatic mammals, and outbreaks in humans are often paralleled by enzootics or epizootics. The reasons for this seem to be multifactorial, though not well understood. Therefore, for epidemiological and outbreak investigations, a rapid hand-held assay would be helpful. Here we described a column-based immunofiltration assay called ABICAP, which has several characteristics that permit its application under field conditions. The assay can be performed within 25 min, with a detection limit of 103 bacteria. Further validation of the assay included the analytical range, precision, detection limit and performance for different human, animal and environmental sample matrices from Kosovo and Sweden, accuracy, recovery, reproducibility and stability.