Animal health tops the bill

23 July 2002

A major new programme aimed at preventing animal diseases in the developing world has been launched by the Wellcome Trust biomedical research charity which will complement a new strategy being announced by the Government to strengthen veterinary science in the UK.

The Trust is setting aside £25m over five years to fund researchers who will use latest technologies to develop methods of predicting and controlling outbreaks of animal diseases through its Animal Health in the Developing World programme.

It is hoped that projects initiated by the programme will bring huge benefits to the 700,000,000 people - one quarter of the world's poor - who rely on livestock.

In recent years research into animal health has lagged behind its human counterpart but with advances in genomic information the Trust feels this is an opportune time to bridge this gap in scientific investigation. The Pathogen Sequencing Unit at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, Cambs., is already working on a number of disease agents relevant to the developing world.*

Dr. Mike Dexter, Director of the Trust, said: " This issue affects countless people, from families with just one animal to the economies of whole countries when national herds are infected by killer diseases.

" In many parts of the developing world owning livestock is an essential way of life. A goat or cow might be the only commodity some people own. If it dies through disease it could be a catastrophe for them.

" Healthy livestock can offer people a way out of poverty and open up trade barriers which is one of the reasons this initiative is so important. It will also reduce the risk of diseases crossing borders and eventually reaching the UK."

Brian Perry, co-ordinator of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya, with more than 30 years' experience in this field of work, said : " Developing countries are plagued by a wide variety of infectious animal diseases, some of which also affect humans, that are not present in the west.

"As a result relatively few resources are invested in the development of technologies and strategies to control them. Therefore this initiative is a significant step in the search for equitable global health and prosperity."

In supporting research in this area the Trust hopes to foster and build on the work of other agencies in the animal health arena and form global partnerships. Researchers from the UK and the rest of the world will be encouraged to apply for funding.

Diseases afflicting animals in the developing world range from Rift Valley Fever, which infects humans as well as sheep and goats, to African Horse Sickness, which is carried by midges and kills up to 95% of horse, mules and donkeys it attacks.

The main areas of research the programme aims to cover are :

• Improving understanding of the epidemiology of disease so outbreaks can be predicted and controls improved.

• Exploiting post-genomic technology to find new treatment targets.

• Investigating the transmission of diseases.

• Producing livestock with enhanced resistance to disease.

• Raising awareness of animal health issues.

Details of the awards will be announced this autumn following further development work.

Notes to editors:

* Among the sequencing projects at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute are :

i) Trypansoma brucei, which is carried by the Tsetse fly and causes trypanomosis , an often fatal disease for cattle and Theileria annulata.

ii) Theileria annulata and Babesia bovis, both tick-borne parasites, which threaten hundreds of millions of livestock in sub-tropical regions.

Media contact:

Barry Gardner,
Wellcome Trust Press Office.
0207 611 7329.
b.gardner@wellcome.ac.uk