Real-time surveillance of zoonotic and pig pathogens using surface-enhanced Raman scattering system

Abstract

The shift towards large-scale intensive pig farming methods has led to an increase in cases of complex, mixed infections, and secondary infections. Early diagnosis and disease prevention have become crucial for effective pig farm management. However, clinical diagnosis may be complicated by antibiotic treatment and atypical disease symptoms. To ensure accurate pathology diagnosis, it is essential to integrate robust laboratory diagnostics with traditional methods. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has emerged as a potentially powerful technique for whole-organism fingerprinting, enabling rapid identification of bacteria. Biosensors utilizing SERS offer promising capabilities for sensitive and quick detection of bacterial pathogens, thus reducing diagnosis time. In this study, we aimed to characterize and evaluate a SERS-based diagnostic system for detecting and identifying bacteria in specific pathogen free (SPF) mice, focusing on two bacterial zoonoses and swine bacteria present in pooled swine sera, feces, and meat. We compared the spectra of bacteria recovered from the specimens to those of pure cultured bacteria and conducted principal component analysis to determine the bacterial molecular fingerprint. Our results demonstrated successful detection, identification, and classification of these bacteria in mice specimens (sera and feces) and swine specimens (sera, feces, and meat) using SERS. SERS provided reproducible molecular spectroscopic signatures suitable for analytical applications. This approach presents a new and potent tool for real-time surveillance of animal bacterial pathogens in clinical settings.