Eckstein Diagnostics

Eckstein Diagnostics

212 W. Mountain Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Phone: (970) 223-3203


Eckstein Diagnostics was founded by Drs. Julia Inamine and Torsten Eckstein in 2008 to overcome obstacles in the diagnosis of chronic and/or multi-pathogen caused infectious diseases in animals and humans and is developing techniques to directly and indirectly detect pathogens from tissues and fluids through various methods. The major focus is on two bacterial and one eukaryotic pathogen:
  • Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease in cattle and sheep; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in humans)
  • Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis in humans)
  • Plasmodium ssp. (malaria in humans).
Johne's disease (JD) is a significant problem in animal health, and its identification by the USDA as one of the priority diseases for 2008/2009 as the most important infectious disease in ruminants underscores its importance. JD is an economically important disease of cattle as well as of other domestic and wild ruminants with worldwide distribution.
JD is characterized by gradual weight loss, decreased milk production and diarrhea due to chronic, progressive, granulomatous enteritis and lymphadenitis. Reportedly, the prevalence of MAP infection in US dairy herds ranges from 20 to 40% and costs the dairy industry $220 million annually. There is a strong demand from the market for a test for Johne’s disease with no batch-to-batch variation, no pre-absorption step, and a higher sensitivity. The strengths of the Lipid-ELISA as a diagnostic test kit for Johne’s disease are that it is a simpler test without the need for pre-absorption of sera and that it has excellent specificity and sensitivity as well as high reproducibility.

Currently, Eckstein Diagnostics is starting collaboration with the University of Sydney to develop a diagnostic test for Paratuberculosis in sheep.