Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) researchers announced on Mar. 30 that they are developing a rapid diagnostic tool to detect Brucella suis, a bacterial infection that can cause brucellosis in humans, in feral pigs hunted across the Hawaiian Islands.
The new test aims to help hunters quickly determine if the wild pig they have caught carries the disease before butchering or consuming it. This is important because there is currently no effective wildlife vaccine or cure for brucellosis, and infected herds are typically managed by culling all animals.
“The goal of this research is to make it usable for hunters,” said HPU Assistant Professor Jessica Jacob, Ph.D. “Feral pigs are hunted in Hawaiʻi, and they sometimes have Brucella suis that can transfer from animals to humans. Our goal is simple. The hunters can test the hunted pig in the field, or at home, and know if that disease is present before butchering or handling the pig.”
Jacob’s work has received $25,000 in funding from the IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) and takes place at HPU’s Downtown Science Laboratories in Honolulu. The technology adapts methods originally used to identify zoonotic diseases such as Brucella ceti and herpesvirus strains found in marine mammals like whales and dolphins stranded on Hawaiian beaches.
The core of this technology uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which allows scientists to detect specific pathogens even with small samples. Jacob’s team recently reached a milestone by partnering with a local hunter to obtain feral pig samples and has already developed PCR primers capable of detecting related pathogens in marine mammals.
Seven students—five undergraduates and two graduate students—are working alongside Jacob on this project. She emphasized how early access to laboratory research sets HPU apart from larger universities where such opportunities often come later in academic careers.
Students involved report gaining valuable hands-on experience connecting classroom knowledge with real-world application, influencing their career paths toward fields like veterinary medicine, wildlife health, animal rescue, rehabilitation, and zoonotic disease research.
Jacob said her team expects to publish results later this year: “We are in the middle of developing this research,” she said. “We don’t have the final pieces yet… That is what one of my master’s student’s is working on now.” Once complete, she believes the diagnostic tool could change how Hawaii’s hunters and wildlife professionals approach animal health.
