Home Helminths (including anthelmintic resistance) [Latent/carrier] What factors determine animal resilience to infection and how can resilient animals best be used in nematode control?
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What factors determine animal resilience to infection and how can resilient animals best be used in nematode control?

Research Question

Define the relationship between resilience and resistance in different livestock species/breeds.
To optimize the use of resilience in combination with resistance against nematodes.

Research Gaps and Challenges

What are the behavioural and pathophysiological mechanisms associated with resilience?
How can continued propagule output from resilient animals be managed so that production is not adversely affected in other animals?

Solution Routes

Well-grounded mathematical models that separate the concepts of resistance and resilience and incorporate the resource, immunological and epidemiological trade-offs between them.
Exploration of the environmental (non-genetic) factors that influence resilience, including nutrition.
Pragmatic systems for including resilience in breed improvement schemes in livestock, alongside resistance.
Proof-of-principle studies on using resilient and resistant classes of stock together on farms to maximise effective use of refugia.

Dependencies

Better understanding immunity and resource trade-offs is needed before these can be reliably optimised.
Markers of resilience practical for large-scale use, and record-keeping systems to enable evaluation of resilience and resistance in the field to enhance selective ability.

State Of the Art

There are host species and breeds of livestock that rely considerably on resilience against nematodes and others are more dependent on resistance. Many high-performing animals and breeds are highly susceptible.
Nutrition, genetics and nutraceuticals can be used to improve resilience against nematodes but each has only largely been investigated in isolation to each other.