One of the most prominent challenges for the safe cultivation and maintenance of animals is control of infectious diseases

This Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Small Business Innovation Research Program totaling $150,000 will support the development of rapid diagnostic tests for the parasitic infection Amyloodinium ocellatum in fish. Live Advantage Bait, LLC dba Totally Pelagic will utilize next generation approaches to produce highly specific monoclonal antibodies for A. ocellatum dinospores and develop a lateral flow-based rapid diagnostic test. The NOAA SBIR program seeks to stimulate technological innovation to meet federal research needs and increase private sector commercialization of innovations important to NOAA's mission. Rapid diagnosis of A. ocellatum is critical given its rapid onset and wide host range impacting the $18 billion aquaculture, aquarium, and conservation fish industries in the U.S.

A. Ocellatum is a parasitic infection that impacts all fish within the wide environmental range resulting in mass moralities in captivity. With a broad host and geographic range, all fish in aquaculture ($10B annually), aquarium trade species ($278M annually),24 and conservation species ($7.6B), or a total of $18B annually are susceptible to a. Ocellatum. Due to its rapid onset, there are often no signs of infestation before mortalities begin to appear within a system, making IT imperative to diagnose and treat as early as possible. Current methodologies for detecting a. Ocellatum are insufficient to circumvent outbreaks. This project proposes two innovative approaches to develop a successful rapid diagnostic test for a. Ocellatum: (1) utilization of a next generation approach of producing highly specific monoclonal antibodies (mabs) for a. Ocellatum dinospores an…