About the Authors

Adrian Allen

Contributed equally to this work with: Adrian Allen, Eleanor Breadon

Adrian.Allen@afbini.gov.uk

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Eleanor Breadon

Contributed equally to this work with: Adrian Allen, Eleanor Breadon

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Andrew Byrne

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Thomas Mallon

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Robin Skuce

Affiliations Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University, Belfast, United Kingdom

Pauline Groussaud

Affiliation OIE/WHO/FAO Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis, Department of Bacteriology, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, United Kingdom

Amanda Dainty

Affiliation OIE/WHO/FAO Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis, Department of Bacteriology, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, United Kingdom

Judith Graham

Affiliation Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Veterinary Service, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Kerri Jones

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Lorraine Pollock

Affiliation Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), AFBI Stormont, Belfast, United Kingdom

Adrian Whatmore

Affiliation OIE/WHO/FAO Reference Laboratory for Brucellosis, Department of Bacteriology, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AA RS AW JG. Performed the experiments: PG EB TM KJ LP. Analyzed the data: AD AA AB TM EB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RS AW. Wrote the paper: AA RS AB EB AW.