PBS Faculty Office: WVDL

• Professor in Clinical Diagnostics
• Section Chief of Diagnostic Microbiology
• BS, MS, PhD

Recombinant subunit vaccine and diagnostic reagent development; characterization and molecular subtyping of bacteria of medical importance; molecular mechanism of microbial pathogenesis; evolution and dissemination of drug resistance among bacterial pathogens.

Supervise the diagnostic bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, bacterial disease serology and part of diagnostic molecular microbiology laboratories that provide services to veterinary medical practioners, college and university researchers and valuable case material for teaching veterinary medical and graduate students. Participate in teaching veterinary bacteriology. Other activities include consultation with clinicians, students, private practitioners, and researchers; development of new tests; maintenance of quality control; and interpretation of diagnostic test results.

Okwumabua, O., M. O’Connor, E. Shull, K. Strelow, M. Hamacher, T. Kurzynski and D. Warshauer. 2005. Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes isolates from food animal clinical cases: PFGE pattern similarity to strains from human listeriosis cases. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 249:275-281.

Okwumabua, O., S. Chinnapapakkagari. 2005. Identification of the gene encoding a 38-kilodalton immunogenic and protective antigen of Streptococcus suis. Clin. Dign. Lab. Immunol. 12:484-490.

Okwumabua, O., M. O’Oconnor, and E. Shull. 2003. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay specific for Streptococcus suis based on the gene encoding the glutamate dehydrogenase. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 218:79-84.

Okwumabua, O., J. Persaud and P. G. Reddy. 2001. Cloning and characterization of the gene encoding the glutamate dehydrogenase of Streptococcus suis serotype 2. Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 8:251-257.

Okwumabua, O., F. Goodman, and O. Elfassy. 2000. Evaluation of in vitro activity of two topical products against three organisms isolated from canine referral patients with otitis externa and cutaneous pyoderma. Vet. Therapeutics 1(4):261-263.

Okwumabua, O., O. Abdelmagid, and M. M. Chengappa. 1999. Hybridization analysis of the gene encoding a hemolysin (suilysin) of Streptococcus suis type 2: evidence for the absence of the gene in some isolates. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 181:113-121.

Abdelmagid, O. Y., M. M. Mansour, O. Okwumabua, and S. van Drunen Littel-van den Iiurk. 1998. Expression and Cellular Distribution of Baculovirus-expressed Bovine Herpesvirus-1 Glycoprotein D sequences. Arch. Virol. 143:2173-2187.