42able and Diagnostig Ltd are collaborating on HERALD—Health Enhancement through Rapid Assessment of Livestock Diseases—an Innovate UK-supported collaborative R&D programme focused on Johne’s disease in cattle.
Diagnostig is developing novel diagnostic technology. 42able is contributing software, data analysis and machine-learning work to evaluate data associated with the diagnostic approach and established comparator methods.
A significant livestock-health problem
Johne’s disease is a chronic bacterial illness that can damage cattle health and herd productivity. Its long progression makes detection and disease surveillance difficult, creating a valuable research question for diagnostic science and data analysis.
What the collaboration is investigating
The programme is examining whether careful analysis of data from the diagnostic approach and established comparator methods can contribute to better disease detection and understanding. 42able’s work centres on source-faithful data handling, machine-learning experiments and evaluation that keeps uncertainty and provenance visible.
The wider goal is research that can support healthier herds, better-informed decisions and improved livestock-disease surveillance. The work remains at the research and evaluation stage.