Foodborne diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality both in developing and developed countries. A vast number of different pathogens and their toxins can contaminate food and water and cause illness when ingested. In most cases the illnesses are mild and last only a few days. However, infants, young children, elderly and people with compromised immune system have often a higher risk for developing severe illnesses
Foodborne diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality both in developing and developed countries. A vast number of different pathogens and their toxins can contaminate food and water and cause illness when ingested. In most cases the illnesses are mild and last only a few days. However, infants, young children, elderly and people with compromised immune system have often a higher risk for developing severe illnesses.
Rotavirus is the number one cause of severe diarrhea in young children worldwide. Our anti-rotavirus mAbs have been shown to detect numerous human rotavirus field strains. In addition, they cross-react well with rotaviruses that are infecting animals.
Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne gastroenteritis and it affects tens of millions of human beings every year. We provide monoclonal antibodies specific to Salmonella O-antigens. Some of these mAbs are specific to a single serogroup while others have broader specificity (see Table). In addition, we have developed mAbs suitable for detecting S. Typhimurium and S. Virchow. The former has a broad reactivity range recognizing E. coli 1234 and Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 7644) species as well.
O-antigen specificity of the anti-Salmonella mAbs. Salmonella serogroups are given in parenthesis.
Listeriosis is among the leading causes of death from foodborne illness. Our anti-L. monocytogenesmAbs show high immunoreactivity against the outer membrane (OM) fraction of L. monocytogenes as well as against the whole cells (see Figure).
Calibration curves for the detection of the OM fraction of L. monocytogenes (A) or whole cells (B).
Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobic, sporeforming bacterium that produces a very potent neurotoxin and causes a life-threatening disease called botulism. We have used formaldehyde inactivated C. botulinum toxins (toxoids) A, B, D and E to generate monoclonal antibodies that are specific to these toxins. In addition, we provide monoclonal antibodies (Cat.#3Cb19) that recognize the natural and non-inactivated toxin A.
Human astroviruses are a common reason for a gastroenteritis infection in young children. We provide a monoclonal antibody detecting astrovirus serotype 1, which appears to be the one most often associated with gastroenteritis.
According to WHO, there are approximately 3-5 million cholera cases and 100,000 deaths as a result of cholera each year. We offer monoclonal antibodies that are specific to whole cells (serogroups O1 and/or O139) or the B-subunit of cholera toxin.
Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of diarrhea. Our anti-Campylobacter jejunimAbs show no cross-reaction with Salmonella spp or Escherichia coli.