Improved diagnostics

Rapid and accurate identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial pathogens is of key importance for guidance of antimicrobial choice and best management of bacterial diseases at the patient and herd level. We pursue the objective of improving diagnosis of bacterial infections in both production and companion animals using a comprehensive approach ranging from optimization of diagnostic and antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods and procedures to development of new Point-of-Care tests, clinical breakpoints, and Machine Learning tools to identify animals predisposed to infection.

These are the current projects in this area:

Farm interventions to control antimicrobial resistance (FARM-CARE)

Objective:  To develop innovative machine learning tools to identify predictors of stress and disease in new-born piglets
PI: Luca Guardabassi
Scientist in charge: Carmen Espinosa Gongora and new postdoc in computer science.
Key collaborators: FARM-CARE is a multi-actor project involving 3 higher education institutions, 3 public organizations, and 1 private company

Funding: JPIAMR
Duration: 2022-2025
Budget: 1,376,000 EUR

Optimizing antimicrobial susceptibility testing and treatment of mink – a PK/PD approach

Objective: to produce pharmacokinetic (PK) data for antimicrobials used in mink production, and to use these data in mathematical modelling to create (i) specific dosage regimens targeting the most common mink pathogens, and (ii) clinical breakpoints for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of mink pathogens.
PI: Peter Damborg
Scientist is charge: Amir Atabak Ronaghinia
Key collaborators: Tina Struve, Pierre-Louis Toutain, Karl Pedersen
Funding: Innovation Fund Denmark and the Danish Fur Breeder’s Association
Duration: 2017 - 2022
Budget: 2,500,000 DKK

LAMP point-of-care testing to guide antimicrobial choice for treatment of canine pyoderma

Objective: To develop a point-of-care (PoC) based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for rapid and inexpensive detection of Staphylococcus pseudintermedius strains resistant to the first line antimicrobials recommended for systemic therapy of pyoderma in dogs (clindamycin, cephalexin, amoxicillin clavulanate)
PI: Luca Guardabassi (coordinator)
Scientist is charge: Mattia Pirolo
Key collaborators: Mette Schjærff, Anette Loeffler (UK), Roberto La Ragione (UK)
Funding: ANICURA
Duration: 2020 – 2022
Budget: 150,000 DKK

Active surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in pigs

Objective: To investigate antimicrobial resistance in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in Danish pigs, and to develop a point-of-care diagnostic test for rapid detection and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of ETEC in pigs with post-weaning diarrhea.
PI: Peter Damborg
Scientist is charge: Prabha Subramani
Key collaborators: Luca Guardabassi, Ken Steen Pedersen, Svend Haugegaard
Funding: the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (Fødevarestyrelsen)
Duration: 2020 – 2022
Budget: 2,000,000 DKK

Key references (last 5 years):

  1. Timofte D, Broens EM, Guardabassi L, Pomba C, Allerton F, Ikonomopoulos J, Overesch G, Damborg P; European Network for Optimization of Veterinary Antimicrobial Treatment (ENOVAT), ESCMID Study Group for Veterinary Microbiology (ESGVM), European College of Veterinary Microbiology (ECVM), and European Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (EAVLD). 2021. Driving laboratory standardization of bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing in veterinary clinical microbiology in Europe and Beyond. J Clin Microbiol. 59(6):e02572-20.
  2. Agerholm JS, Klas EM, Damborg P, Borel N, Pedersen HG, Christoffersen M. 2021. Diagnostic survey of aborted equine fetuses and stillborn premature foals in Denmark. Front Vet Sci. 8:740621.
  3. Butaye P, Stegger M, Moodley A, Damborg P, Williams A, Halliday-Simmonds I, Guardabassi L. 2021. One Health genomic study of human and animal Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated at diagnostic laboratories on a small Caribbean island. Antibiotics 11(1):42.
  4. Bousquet-Mélou A, Schneider M, El Garch F, Broussou DC, Ferran AA, Lallemand EA, Triboulloy C, Damborg P, Toutain PL. 2021. Determination of the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic cut-off values of marbofloxacin in horses to support the establishment of a clinical breakpoint for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Equine Vet J. 53(5):1047-1055.
  5. Hedström M, Møller M, Patsekhina H, Damborg P, Jessen LR, Sørensen TM. 2021. The effect of urine storage temperature and boric acid preservation on quantitative bacterial culture for diagnosing canine urinary tract infection. BMC Vet Res. 17(1):379.
  6. Skov R, Varga A, Matuschek E, Åhman J, Bemis D, Bengtsson B, Sunde M, Humphries R, Westblade L, Guardabassi L, Kahlmeter G. 2020. EUCAST disc diffusion criteria for the detection of mecA-Mediated β-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius: oxacillin versus cefoxitin. Clin Microbiol Infect. 26(1):122.
  7. Moberg FS, Langhorn R, Bertelsen PV, Pilegaard LM, Sørensen TM, Bjørnvad CR, Damborg P, Kieler IN, Jessen LR. 2019. Subclinical bacteriuria in a mixed population of 179 middle-aged and elderly cats: a prospective cross-sectional study. J Feline Med SurgSep 20:1098612X19874141.
  8. Larsen RF, Boysen L, Jessen LR, Guardabassi L, Damborg P. 2018. Diversity of Staphylococcus pseudintermediusin carriage sites and skin lesions of dogs with superficial bacterial folliculitis: potential implications for diagnostic testing and therapy. Vet Dermatol. [Epub ahead of print]
  9. Sørensen TM, Bjørnvad CR, Cordoba G, Damborg P, Guardabassi L, Siersma V, Bjerrum L, Jessen LR. 2018. Effects of diagnostic work-up on medical decision-making for canine urinary tract infection: an observational study in Danish small animal practices.J Vet Intern Med 32:743-751.
  10. Toutain PL, Bousquet-Mélou A, Damborg P, Ferran AA, Mevius D, Pelligand L, Veldman KT, Lees P. 2017. En Route towards European Clinical Breakpoints for Veterinary Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: A Position Paper Explaining the VetCAST Approach.Front Microbiol 8:2344.