A faster, more accurate test to detect Brucella melitensisbacterium in unpasteurized goat's milk and cheese can help prevent undulant fever in humans. That disease can cause chills, fever, fatigue and an aching similar to arthritis. Most food borne cases of undulant fever come from unpasteurized goat's milk and cheese from Mexico.
Quick identification is critical so contaminated foods can be removed from grocery stores.
About two-thirds of all U.S. cases of undulant fever are attributed to infection with B. melitensis . To transform green sugarcane into those white, sweet sugar crystals on your breakfast table requires heat processing. But high temperatures can cause sugarcane's sucrose to break down and discolor, resulting in losses for the sugar industry. Researchers are working on improvements to processing machinery to help pinpoint and prevent heat breakdown. As sucrose degrades, telltale chemicals called oligosaccharides form.