Animal Health in the Developing World: summary of awards

The overall aim was to fund research on livestock diseases that impact significantly on human health and wellbeing in low- and middle-income countries.

Proposals that addressed one or more of the following scientific areas in relation to livestock diseases of low- and middle-income countries were particularly encouraged:

• livestock epidemiology and/or the natural history and dynamics of infection and disease in low- and middle-income countries (wildlife was only considered in the context of major reservoirs of human or livestock disease)
• exploiting genomics (a) for drug and vaccine development, and (b) to understand the host protective immune response, disease resistance and pathogenesis
• development of cheap, effective, feasible diagnostics, where possible, adapting currently available products
• animal-to-animal transmission and animal-to-human transmission.

Grants awarded

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) a serious and emerging plague of small ruminants in developing countries: Epidemiology, transmission, host range and pathogenicity of the virus in West Africa
£836 408 for 36 months
Professor Dirk U Pfeiffer, Royal Veterinary College, United Kingdom
Professor Thomas Barrett, Institute for Animal Health, United Kingdom
Dr Adama Diallo, IAEA Laboratories, Austria
Dr Emmanuel Couacy-Hymann, Central Laboratory for Animal Diseases, Côte d’Ivoire
Dr Oumou Sagare, Laboratoire Central Veterinaire, Mali

Characterisation of plant-based oral vaccines against peste des petits ruminants and development of a cost-effective delivery system
£247 774 awarded for 30 months
Dr Michael D Baron, Institute for Animal Health, United Kingdom
Professor Melkote Subba Rao Shaila, Indian Institute of Science, India
Dr Geraldine Taylor, Institute for Animal Health, United Kingdom

Adapting recombinant anti-tick vaccines to livestock in Africa
£1 111 792 awarded for 60 months
Professor Frans Jongejan, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Dr Jose de la Fuente, University of Castilla la Mancha, Spain
Professor Albert Neitz, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Anabella Gaspar, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Peter Willadsen, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
Professor Mohamed Darghouth, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Tunisia
Dr Enoch Koney, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana

Development of effective live vaccines for prevention of anaplasmosis and babesiosis
£1 068 974 awarded for 60 months
Professor Guy H Palmer, Washington State University, USA
Dr Monica Florin-Christensen, INTA-Castelar, Argentina
Dr Juan Mosqueda, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias (INIFAP), Mexico
Professor Anthony Barbet, University of Florida, USA
Dr Marisa Farber, INTA-Castelar, Argentina
Dr Kelly Brayton, Washington State University, USA
Professor Wendy Brown, Washington State University, USA
Dr Audrey Lau, Washington State University, USA
Professor Terry McElwain, Washington State University, USA

A genomics approach to understanding the immunopathology of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP): Improvement of current live vaccines and the development of next generation vaccines
£1 609 957 awarded for 60 months
Professor Declan J McKeever, Moredun Research Institute, United Kingdom
Dr Evans Taracha, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya
Dr Hezron Wesonga, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi
Dr Benedict Lema, Animal Diseases Research Institute, Tanzania
Professor Joachim Frey, University of Bernm Switzerland
Professor David G E Smith, Moredun Research Institute/University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Professor David W Taylor, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Novel approaches and technologies to reduce the impact of nematode parasitism on the livelihoods of small-holder farmers of sheep and goats in Africa
£281 536 awarded for 42 months
Professor Peter J Waller, National Veterinary Institute, Sweden
Dr David Smith, Moredun Research Institute, United Kingdom
Professor Graham Medley, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr George Grey, ILRI, Kenya
Mr Adriano Francis Vatta, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI),South Africa
Professor Jakobus Eloff, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Ernest Lacey, Microbial Screening Technologies, Sydney, Australia
Dr Brian Perry, Consultant

African swine fever virus: Development of vaccines and epidemiological investigations
£2 200 000 awarded for 60 months
Professor Dirk U Pfeiffer, Royal Veterinary College, United Kingdom
Dr Linda Dixon, Institute for Animal Health, United Kingdom
Dr Wilna Vosloo, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa
Dr Jose M Escribano, INIA-Madrid, Spain
Dr Maria Luisa Salas, Centro de Biología Molecular-Madrid, Spain
Dr Emmanuel Albina, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France
Dr Robert Parkhouse, Gulbenkian Institute for Science, Portugal
Dr Haru Takamatsu, Institute of Animal Health, United Kingdom
Dr Covadonga Alonso, INIA-Madid, Spain
Dr Enrique Tabares, Universidad Autonoma Madrid, Spain
Dr Javier Rodriguez, Centro de Biología Molecular-Madrid, Spain

Control of schistosomiasis in the lakes region of China by eliminating parasites in livestock: Combined treatment strategy employing praziquantel andadministration of an anti-schistosoma japonica plasmid DNA vaccine
£222 315 awarded for 12 months
Professor Donald A Harn, Harvard School of Public Health, USA
Dr Zheng Feng, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China
Professor Yinchang Zhu, Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases, China

Optimisation and field testing of a practical vaccine against Taenia solium cysticercosis in pigs
£806 729 awarded for 60 months
Dr Marshall Lightowlers, University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Armando E Gonzalez, Universidad de San Marcos, Peru
Dr Stanny Geerts, Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, Belgium
Dr Ana Flisser Universidad Nacional Auton de Mexico, Mexico
Professor Andre Zoli, University of Dschang, Cameroon
Mr Charles Guaci, University of Melbourne, Australia

An integrated approach for the development of sustainable methods to control tropical theileriosis
£2 133 050 awarded for 60 months
Professor W Ivan Morrison, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Professor Dirk Dobbelaere, University of Bern, Switzerland
Professor Andrew Tait, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Professor Graham Medley, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr Evans Taracha, ILRI, Kenya
Dr Mohamed Darghouth, Ecole Nationale de Medecine Veterinaire, France
Dr Brian Shiels, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Professor Declan McKeever, Moredun Research Institute, United Kingdom
Dr Elizabeth Glass, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Roslin Institute, United Kingdom
Dr Gordon Langsley, Institut Pasteur, France
Dr Tulin Karagenc, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey

Environmental changes in Africa and tsetse habitat fragmentation: Epidemiological consequences and perspectives for control
£356 555 awarded for 36 months
Dr Stephane de la Rocque, CIRAD-EMVT, France
Dr Peter Van Den Bossche, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium
Professor David J Rogers, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Dr Issa Sibibe, Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l’Elevage en zone Subhumide (CIRDES), Burkina Faso
Dr Joseph Mubanga, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Zambia
Dr Tshepo Matjila, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Sophie Thevenon, CIRDES, Burkina Faso
Mr Idrissa Kabore, CIRDES, Burkina Faso
Dr Jeremy Bouyer, CIRDES, Burkina Faso

Bovine tuberculosis in the developing world
£2 160 022 awarded for 60 months
Professor Douglas B Young, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Professor Glyn Hewinson, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Dr Howard Engers, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ethiopia
Dr Dan Bradley, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Dr Evans Taracha, ILRI, Kenya
Dr Jakob Zinsstag, Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland
Dr Stephen Gordon, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, United Kingdom
Dr Richard Bishop, ILRI, Kenya
Dr Abraham Aseffa, Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), Ethiopia
Dr Martin Vordermeier, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, United Kingdom
Dr Melese Getu, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia