Confirmation of botulism in birds and cattle by the mouse bioassay and Endopep-MS

There have been several outbreaks of botulism among poultry and wild birds in Sweden in recent years. The National Veterinary Institute of Sweden (SVA) has identified botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT)/C1 or the mosaic BoNT/C1D using the mouse bioassay. This is believed to be the first report on the application of the Endopep mass spectrometry (Endopep-MS) method to selected clinical animal (serum and liver) samples and a feed sample that had previously given positive test results with the mouse bioassay. In the mouse bioassay eight of the eleven samples were found to be neutralized by both BoNT/C1 and /D antitoxins; the other three were neutralized only by BoNT/C1 antitoxin, but the mice showed a prolonged survival time when the samples had been treated with /D antitoxin. The Endopep-MS analysis, on the other hand, demonstrated only BoNT/C1 activity for all eleven samples. This suggests that at least eight of the samples were of the chimeric toxin type BoNT/C1D, where the enzymically active site is identical to that of BoNT/C1, while other parts of the protein contain sequences of BoNT/D. This is the first step of a cross-validation between the established mouse bioassay and the Endopep-MS of serotypes BoNT/C1 and /C1D. Endopep-MS is concluded to have potential as an attractive alternative to the mouse bioassay.