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News Services
Kansas State University
128 Dole Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-2535
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State News Services may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Sources: Randy Phebus, 785-532-1215, phebus@k-state.edu;
and Dick Oberst, 785-532-4411, oberst@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/phebusbio.html
http://www.vet.k-state.edu/depts/dmp/personnel/faculty/oberst.htm
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

K-STATE RESEARCHERS EVALUATING TESTS THAT PROTECT SOLDIERS FROM PATHOGENS ON THE BATTLEFIELD

MANHATTAN -- The U.S. has military personnel stationed around the world, and often those service members eat locally acquired food that may not have been processed the same way food is processed in the U.S. That's why K-State researchers are working with the U.S. Department of Defense to better protect American troops from the possibility of intentional or unintentional food contamination.

K-State's Randy Phebus, professor of animal sciences and industry, and Dick Oberst, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, have been working with the U. S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass., to validate ways to ensure what soldiers eat and drink is free of pathogenic microorganisms or biological toxins. Those substances could range from simple but sickening bacteria found naturally in the food supply to more complicated pathogens such as those on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's select agent list.

"In most cases, you really don't know what you're looking for," Phebus said. "There are a number of microbiological hazards that could contaminate foods consumed by service members. You would like to be able to quickly screen food samples against several potential biological threats."

The military wants to develop and validate an array of real-time tests that can be taken to the battlefield.

Since 2005, Phebus and Oberst have taken tests used in the food industry to detect pathogens and evaluated them relative to the military mission. So far, they've looked at a few different methods and used them on about a dozen food types.

"We've been looking at automated immuno-assays and molecular diagnostics for evaluating various food matrices," Oberst said. "Because of the differing characteristics of various food products, pathogens or toxins can react in radically different ways. They may survive longer, or there may be components of a particular food that inhibit the detection assay being used."

For example, it may be more difficult to detect a specific biological toxin from a high-fat food such as ground beef compared to a low-fat product such as fresh produce. Sometimes components of the food influence the sensitivity of the specific detection assay in a negative way. These influences must be understood so the appropriate assay can be selected.

In addition to efficacy, the researchers also had to make sure the tests were user-friendly. Since service members aren’t often stationed conveniently near scientific laboratories, the detection assays have to be portable and easily used by trained field food inspectors.

To date, the Department of Defense has awarded about $1.7 million for the project.

Phebus and Oberst are ready to take their research to the next level, shifting over to the high-level containment labs at K-State's BRI – Biosecurity Research Institute.

"The advanced laboratory and food processing space at the BRI will enable us to take our research even further," Phebus said. "We'll be looking at more challenging pathogens and how they behave during numerous food processing procedures, which will help us to better protect those who are protecting us across the world."

The BRI, in K-State's Pat Roberts Hall, is the only BSL-3 biocontainment research and training facility in the U.S. that can accommodate high-consequence pathogen research on food animals, food crops and food processing under one roof. This allows for a more comprehensive approach in researching threats to the nation's food supply. Besides the BRI, Pat Roberts Hall also has advanced training and education space, complete with an integrated training suite and mock lab.