Current and Emerging Diagnostic Approaches to Bacterial Diseases of Ruminants

Emerging diagnostic approaches such as rtPCR, MALDI-TOF, and gene sequencing have enhanced diagnostic testing for a variety of infectious diseases in ruminants. rtPCR has enhanced sensitivity, reduced testing time, and minimizes the need for cul-ture. However, interpretation of result requires additional considerations. For MALDI-TOF and WGS, isolation of the pathogen in pure culture is still required. Sequence-based approaches applied directly to clinical samples hold promise for diagnostic testing for these pathogens, but advances in technology, reduction in cost, and ease of analysis need to be comparable with existing methods to be practical.