The potential use of a novel immunomagnetic PCR (IMS–PCR) technique as a rapid method
to screen milk samples for the presence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis
(M. ptb) was assessed. Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) for M. ptb, developed at Queen's
University, Belfast, was applied to milk samples prior to IS900 PCR in order to selectively
concentrate any M. ptb cells present and, at the same time, separate the cells from
constituents of milk likely to inhibit subsequent PCR. This increased the sensitivity of IS900 …