Saliva NIR spectroscopy and Aquaphotomics: a novel diagnostic approach to Paratuberculosis in dairy cattle

Paratuberculosis is a granulomatous intestinal infection that affects ruminant animals worldwide. The disease is often detected when most animals are already infected due to the long incubation period and the high transmissibility of the infectious agent. The lack of a comprehensive method to diagnose Paratuberculosis is a global challenge. Therefore, a non-destructive, fast, and cost-effective diagnostic method for early detection of Paratuberculosis is crucial.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and Aquaphotomics have the potential to diagnose the disease by detecting changes in biological fluids. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic ability of NIRS and Aquaphotomics for Paratuberculosis in dairy cattle by monitoring and data mining of saliva. The diagnostic models were developed according to saliva spectra of dairy cattle in the NIR range and 12 water absorbance bands from 100 to 200 days after calving in two groups: positive and negative, based on the same results of seven ELISA tests of blood plasma, as a reference test.

Both NIRS and Aquaphotomics methods had high diagnostic accuracy. Using QDA and SVM models, 99% total accuracy, 98% sensitivity, and 100% specificity were achieved in internal validation. The total accuracy in external validation was 90%. This study presents two novel approaches to diagnosing Paratuberculosis in dairy cattle using saliva.

The study found that changes in water absorbance spectral patterns of saliva caused by complex physiological changes, such as the amount of antibody related to Paratuberculosis in dairy cattle as biomarkers, are crucial in detecting Paratuberculosis using NIRS and Aquaphotomics.