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Study traces FMDV escape from Indian subcontinent

The seven different serotypes of Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) can be split further into lineages which normally exist in specific geographical areas or ‘pools’. Over the past five years, the geographical range of a serotype O lineage, named Ind-2001, has dramatically expanded into many countries in Asia and North Africa. Pirbright Institute researchers from the […]

H7N9 and H7N2 highly pathogenic viruses detected in ducks

H7N9 low pathogenic Influenza A viruses emerged in China in 2013 and mutated to highly pathogenic strains in 2017, resulting in human infections and disease in chickens. To control spread, a bivalent H5/H7 inactivated vaccine was introduced in poultry (mainly chickens) in September 2017. Recent findings suggest that the vaccine largely worked, but researchers report […]

FAO warns African swine fever may spread in Asia

The rapid onset of African Swine Fever (ASF) in China, and its detection in areas more than one thousand kilometres apart within the country, could mean the virus may spread to other Asian countries anytime, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. So far, in efforts to control the spread of the disease, […]

African swine fever in China – first report

The first outbreak of African swine fever in China has been confirmed on 3 Aug 2018 by Dr. Zhang Zhongqui, Director General, China Animal Disease Control Centre, Veterinary Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China. (Since the first outbreak there are reports of 2 more confirmed and one more not yet confirmed.) China has the largest pig […]

Existing Initiatives in Working Group Fields

A new report mapping current initiatives in the fields of the IRC priority topics has just been published by the Secretariat to the IRC. Initiatives in this case refer to existing research networks/alliances which enables research teams to successfully work together and facilitate communication/collaboration/sharing reagents and resources. The aim was to gather and compile documents […]

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 […]

GFRA Newsletter May 2016

Download the latest newsletter from the GFRA – Global Foot and Mouth Disease Research Alliance.

Launch of the STAR-IDAZ International Research Consortium (IRC) on Animal Health

Animal diseases can cause serious social, economic and environmental damage, impact on animal welfare and in some cases directly threaten human health. These diseases ignore borders. Livestock provides one third of human protein intake so working together to develop new control methods for the disease problems that are common to countries around the world is […]

Reducing Climate-Sensitive Disease Risks

A discussion paper produced by the Agriculture and Environmental Services Department of the World Bank. “This study focuses on livestock diseases that are “sensitive” to climate change, with a view to help practitioners reduce the risks of key climate-sensitive infectious diseases by strengthening risk management systems for disease outbreaks. The three diseases chosen for the […]

Meeting Future Research Needs on Infectious Diseases of Animals and Zoonoses – A Global Foresight Exercise

STAR-IDAZ has conducted foresight studies as part of its objective to improve coordination of research activities on the major infectious diseases of animals (including zoonoses) to hasten the delivery of improved control methods. The aim of these studies was to identify the scientific and technological needs, including research capacity and support structures to prevent, control […]