Author: Rachel Wood
Cost and scale of field trials for bovine TB vaccine may make them unfeasible
Field trials for a vaccine to protect cattle against bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) would need to involve 500 herds – potentially as many as 75,000-100,000 cattle – to demonstrate cost effectiveness for farmers, concludes a study published in eLife. Instead, the researchers suggest that the scale and cost of estimating the effect of a vaccine […]
Local immune response to Influenza studied in pigs
Researchers from The Pirbright Institute, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and University of Oxford have developed tools to show how CD8 (killer) T cells in pigs are recruited in large numbers in the lung after infection with influenza or aerosol vaccination. The tools can also be used to identify virus proteins that are recognised by […]
Porcine deltacoronavirus: potential for cross-species transmission?
Researchers have found that Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) efficiently infects cultured cells of other species, including humans and chickens. The discovery raises concerns about the potential for cross-species transmission. Researchers at The Ohio State University and Utrecht University collaborated to better understand the new virus and its potential reach. Their findings are published in PNAS. Porcine […]
Two new genetic groups of Foot-and-mouth disease virus identified
Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have examined the genetic material of Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) samples collected from eastern and southern Africa, and discovered two novel virus groups. Their findings are published in the journal Viruses. FMD viruses are categorised into seven different serotypes, out of which serotypes O, A and Southern African Territories (SAT) […]
Survival of ASFV and other viral pathogens in feed
Researchers have found that African swine fever virus (ASFV) could survive in a simulated Trans-Atlantic feed shipment. The study, published in PLOS ONE, evaluated the survival of ASFV and other important viral pathogens of livestock in animal feed ingredients imported into the United States under simulated transboundary conditions. The viruses were selected based on global […]
FMDV protein could be used for disease detection
Dr Stephen Berryman and Dr Toby Tuthill from The Pirbright Institute have collaborated with the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and other research institutes to uncover a system used by foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) to prevent antiviral signalling of infected cells. The discovery could allow scientists to detect animals that have been infected with FMDV […]
Characterization of Mycobacterium bovis in Mozambique
The most extensive study to date of the genetic diversity of Mycobacterium bovis isolates from Mozambique is reported in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is of global concern for multiple reasons – the economic impact on animal production, the potential spread to wildlife, and the risk of transmission to humans. While BTB is […]
One Health study of tick-borne diseases in Mongolia
To better understand the epidemiology of tick-borne disease in Mongolia, a comprehensive seroprevalence study was conducted investigating exposure to Anaplasma spp. and spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. in nomadic herders and their livestock across three provinces from 2014 to 2015. Dr. Michael von Fricken spent a year living in Ulaanbataar as a postdoc with […]
Roadmap to combat bovine and zoonotic tuberculosis
The Roadmap for Zoonotic Tuberculosis was launched at the 48th Union World Conference on Lung Health, which took place in Guadalajara, Mexico, 11-14 October 2017. Four partners in health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Union […]
Modified virus shows promise as an ASF vaccine
Researchers have found that deleting a gene of African swine fever virus (ASFV) reduces its ability to cause infection and protects against a strain of the virus that causes severe disease. In the study, published in the Journal of Virology, scientists at The Pirbright Institute deleted an ASFV gene that codes for a protein (DP148R) thought […]