The theme of this year’s World Veterinary Day – celebrated April, 27th – was Value of Vaccination. To celebrate it, some of the vaccinology work conducted by researchers at The Roslin Institute and the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS) was put together.
Vaccine shows promise against widespread chicken disease
A new vaccine strategy could offer protection to millions of chickens threatened by a serious respiratory disease. Infectious bronchitis virus is highly contagious and responsible for major economic losses to the poultry industry worldwide. Infected chickens experience weight loss, decreased egg production and impaired egg quality. They are also left vulnerable to other diseases. Researchers at The Roslin Institute and the Pirbright Institute tested a new approach using a specialist type of vaccine – known as recombinant virus vaccines. These vaccines use harmless or weak versions of a virus or bacteria to introduce microbes into cells in the body. Results show the vaccine offered partial protection against infectious bronchitis virus, but further research is needed to develop a more robust vaccine.
Vaccine trials against E. coli
As part of a research consortium working to understand how common E. coli O157 is across farms in Great Britain, sequencing approaches have been used to determine how these bacteria relate to the ones causing human infections. Modelling indicates that such an intervention would have significant public health benefit.
The International Veterinary Vaccinology Network
Researchers at The Roslin Institute and Pirbright Institute lead a network to develop livestock vaccines. The International Veterinary Vaccinology Network has been awarded £2.1M by the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to facilitate the formation of new partnerships that will contribute to the development of vaccines against livestock diseases that have major impacts on the health and productivity of animals in low-and-middle income countries.
