General Questions

What is MiDOG®?

MiDOG® is a state-of-the-art testing facility employing the latest, cutting-edge, molecular-based and Next-Generation DNA Sequencing technologies to accurately identify and characterize microbial populations in collected samples.  The presence of both bacterial and fungal pathogens as well as antibiotic susceptibility (resistance) are revealed using the proprietary pipeline developed for the MiDOG® service offering.

 

Want to learn more? Watch our summary video here!

 

What is the MiDOG® All-in-One Microbial Test?

The test is comprised of two parts:

1) A swab collection kit for sampling done by the veterinarian and 2) a Next Generation DNA sequencing service performed at the MiDOG® testing facility on the samples submitted by the veterinarian.

 

What does the MiDOG®All-in-One Microbial test provide to the veterinarian?

The veterinarian is provided a comprehensive report outlining the results of the test. The report consists of three parts:

1. Bacterial and fungal pathogens detected.

2. Antibiotic resistance profile for each identified bacterial pathogen.

3. Supplemental data: Anything unusual that we find when comparing the sample to our clinically healthy canine database, as well as  supplemental data on bacterial and fungal profile

​

All in just one test! A sample report is shown on the right.

​

Watch a video explaining the different components of the report here.

 

​

What are the benefits of using this test?

99% of all organisms cannot currently be cultured in the lab and are thus missed upon analysis. Compared to culturing tests, this test tells you much faster about ALL of the organisms that are present on your sample, and how your patient might respond to treatment. This can significantly shorten the time that your patient is suffering from infections or lesions and aid effective antibiotic stewardship.

​

​

Where can I find a list of the organisms covered by this test?

There is no list available as the MiDOG All-in-One Test quite literally covers all bacteria and fungi. This test uses ‘next-generation DNA sequencing’ as the diagnostic tool, which is molecular based test, and therefore very sensitive.

The All-in-One Test targets two very conserved regions of the bacterial and fungal genomes, the 16S rRNA and ITS regions, respectively. This allows us to target quite literally all bacterial and all fungal species, as each bacterium and each fungus has these regions in their genomes. This type of DNA sequencing allows us to detect all different kinds of bacterial and fungal species in the samples, to quantify them, and to test for their antibiotic resistances.

Once the DNA has been sequenced, it is aligned against genomic databases to identify the bacterial and fungal species identity and to determine whether the species is a known pathogen. Current genomic databases contain billions of sequences for over 450,000 known species. If a DNA sequence is found in the sample that is not yet described in the database, the next closes relative is identified.

Essentially, any bacterial or fungal species of interest is detected by this test.