Translation Award to develop cow vaccine for deadly disease
04 July 2011
Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) is a bacterial disease that affects cattle, buffalo and camels across South and South-east Asia, Africa and South America. Transmission of bacteria is airborne and infection leads quickly to systemic disease, causing death of the animal within 24 hours.
In India, it is estimated that HS is responsible for approximately half of all cattle and buffalo deaths. The disease is a significant economic problem for resource-poor farmers who rely on these animals for meat, milk, draught power, manure and heat.
The consortium includes scientists from Moredun Research Institute, the University of Glasgow and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and plans to develop and test a new vaccine for this disease over the next three years. It has recruited the help of Inocul8, GALVmed and Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL), three organisations with the commercial experience required to get a new vaccine licensed and manufactured in India.
The lead scientist in the consortium, Dr Chris Hodgson from Moredun Research Institute, commented: "The first step involves us attenuating or weakening the causative bacterium so that it is unable to cause disease. The weakened bacterium will be incorporated into a prototype vaccine, which will be tested in the UK and trialled in buffalo and cattle across India to determine its effectiveness at controlling HS disease."
Dr Richard Mole from Inocul8 added: "The current vaccines for HS only give protection for up to six months. This improved vaccine is anticipated to be more cross-protective, easier to administer and to give much longer duration of immunity than other vaccines currently on the market, factors that will have a huge impact on the effective control and prevention of this disease."
Image: Cattle, buffalo and camels are all susceptible to HS. Credit: IVRI.
