{
  "abstract": "Heartwater, caused by the tick-borne bacterium Ehrlichia ruminantium, threatens ruminant production in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Serological surveillance relies on species-specific ELISAs, so wildlife and camelids, which are potential reservoirs or sentinels, have no validated tools. We developed and evaluated a pan-species indirect ELISA prototype (ID Screen Ehrlichia ruminantium Indirect Multi-species, Innovative Diagnostics) that detects anti-MAP1-B antibodies in all mammals. A positivity threshold of 30% relative positivity percentage (RPP) was empirically established from 707 heartwater-negative cattle, goat and sheep sera from three regions (maximum RPP 22.1%). Against a goat-specific reference ELISA (n = 503), the prototype showed 98.2% sensitivity, 97.2% specificity and 97.6% overall agreement. ROC analysis identified a Youden-optimal cut-off of 29.96%, confirming the empirical threshold. Inter-assay reproducibility was satisfactory (mean CV 7.4%), and qualitative classification remained stable across runs, including for a near-threshold sample. In four vaccinated sheep, the prototype detected seroconversion at the same time points as a sheep-specific ELISA. In non-domestic hosts, the assay gave uniformly low RPP values in 24 zoo animals of ten species from a heartwater-free area. By contrast, 4.5% of 111 dromedary camels from Chad exceeded the threshold. Eight wildlife species from Kruger National Park (n = 405) were tested and five species presented high median RPP values. This single-protocol assay provides a reproducible tool for integrated heartwater surveillance across livestock, camelids and wildlife, in Africa, in the Caribbean and in all countries threatened by the emergence of heartwater.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "CIRAD"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 12,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "V. RODRIGUES"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Viry"
    },
    {
      "name": "a. monteil"
    },
    {
      "name": "m. dhune"
    },
    {
      "name": "m. bayet"
    },
    {
      "name": "p. pourquier"
    },
    {
      "name": "v. Ollivier"
    },
    {
      "name": "f. donnet"
    },
    {
      "name": "d. morar-leather"
    },
    {
      "name": "z. Dlamkile"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. Neves"
    },
    {
      "name": "D. F. Meyer"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6sevh98bcjmft.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.29.762616",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762616v1.full",
  "id": "6sevh98bcjmft",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762616v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "microbiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762616v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-29",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6sevh98bcjmft.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T00:21:09Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.29.762616",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.29.762616v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:microbiology",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Toward closing a heartwater monitoring gap with a new pan-species ELISA suitable for domestic ruminants, wildlife, and camels.",
  "title_text": "Toward closing a heartwater monitoring gap with a new pan-species ELISA suitable for domestic ruminants, wildlife, and camels.",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T00:20:55Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6sevh98bcjmft",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}