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Since its discovery in the 1980s, avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) has spread in poultry populations worldwide with major adverse health and food security implications for commercial chickens and turkeys. Research at the University of Liverpool (UoL) led to the registration of a live vaccine in 1994 which has played a global role in AMPV control, thereby safeguarding the supply of poultry meat and eggs. Recent research and development at the UoL has identified key control measures, relating to vaccine application, vaccine selection, efficacy and safety, which have had a significant impact on poultry health and consequently, poultry producers and consumers. In particular, demonstration that live AMPV vaccines can revert to virulence, that vaccine type applied influences field protection and that continuous use of a single vaccine can influence circulating field strains, has resulted in UoL leading policy making with regard to current AMPV vaccine protocols.
The research led to the development of a suite of tests to ensure appropriate assessment of biomechanical, mechanical and physical properties of equestrian arena surfaces. Test arenas were assessed in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games, generating data which contributed to changes in the design, construction and management of the Olympic equestrian arenas at Greenwich Park. Subsequently, functional properties suggested as most relevant to the performance, safety and welfare of horses in disciplines such as dressage and show jumping have been described in a White Paper, now endorsed and approved for publication by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).
NOTE: The FEI, established in 1921, is the international governing body responsible for all international equestrian events in disciplines such as dressage, show jumping and eventing. The FEI sets out the regulations for international equestrian competitions, including the Olympics and Paralympics.
Impact: Economic, public policy and animal health and welfare: Selective breeding based upon identification of PRNP genotypes can eliminate animals that are susceptible to scrapie from the flock.
Significance: UK sheep meat exports are worth >£380million. Breeding for scrapie resistance protected the sheep industry from similar damage to that inflicted by BSE on cattle and the UK economy.
Beneficiaries: Farmers, animals, consumers
Attribution: Professor Hunter and Dr. Goldmann (Roslin Institute, now part of UoE) identified polymorphisms of the PrP (PRNP) gene linked to scrapie susceptibility and resistance in sheep.
Reach: International, programmes breeding for resistance to scrapie in sheep are now used in the UK, Europe and USA.
Rabies is the most lethal known infectious disease and kills 55,000 people annually worldwide, mainly in Africa and Asia; however, it is almost entirely preventable. Effective vaccines for animals and humans are available, but their use is limited by cost and accessibility. Research undertaken at the University of Glasgow by Professor Sarah Cleaveland and her team has led to the development and adoption of new health and veterinary policies in East Africa, transforming research findings into practical strategies for rabies prevention and control. These strategies reduce the cost of medical treatment (such as post-exposure prophylaxis), increase its effectiveness (by improving compliance) and eliminate the barriers to receiving treatment in some of the world's most disadvantaged communities. Research by the Glasgow team on dog vaccination strategies has also made a major contribution to the recognition by the World Health Organization (WHO) that global canine rabies elimination is feasible, with national and global strategies now focussing on dog vaccination as a cost effective means of reducing human rabies deaths.
Rabies is an infectious disease that kills at least 55,000 people annually, primarily in Asia and Africa, with infected dogs being the major source of infection in humans. In a recent rabies epidemic on the Indonesian island of Bali, between Dec 2008 and June 2011, over 130 human deaths occurred, because the actions of the local authorities were not sufficient to control the outbreak. Research undertaken at the University of Glasgow was instrumental in the development of an island-wide canine vaccination strategy between 2010 and 2013. These campaigns controlled the spread of rabies in dogs (villages reporting new cases) and reduced the incidence of human deaths by over 90% compared with the incidence before mass canine vaccination started, in late 2010. As of July 2013, Bali had gone 11 months without a human case of rabies. The research also contributed to advocacy, policy formulation and development of computer-based tools to support rabies control both within Bali and other developing countries.
The parasite Neospora caninum is the leading cause of abortion in cattle in the UK, resulting in around 6,000 abortions per year; and a $1.3b pa international problem. There are no effective drugs or vaccines to control neosporosis. University of Liverpool (UoL) research on the development of diagnostic tests, understanding the pathogenesis, epidemiology and transmission of N. caninum has made an important contribution to developing best practise herd health schemes, now offered by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) and by a commercial company `myhealthyherd', to eradicate N. caninum infection from a herd. This has enabled cattle farmers to improve their businesses by reducing abortion rates and other costs associated with neosporosis.
Impact: Economics, policy, animal and human health: In 2006, SoS (a Public Private Partnership-PPP) was established involving: University of Edinburgh, a pharmaceutical company, a charity, and the Govt. of Uganda to control sleeping sickness by eliminating Trypanasome carriage in cattle. The prevalence of trypanosomiasis has been reduced by 75% and sleeping sickness cases have fallen year on year since the PPP was established and Uganda has received a cost benefit between US$125 and $400M
Beneficiaries: The Ugandan population, Ugandan Cattle population.
Significance: Sleeping sickness, which is difficult to diagnose and treat in humans, is often fatal. Ten million Ugandans are at risk from sleeping sickness. SoS established a veterinary network in Uganda producing
Attribution: Professor Welburn (University of Edinburgh, UoE) founded SoS and developed essential diagnostic techniques.
Reach: SoS provides a model for the elimination of the disease across sub Saharan Africa in an economically sustainable fashion - with over 22 million people at risk.
Research at the University of Liverpool (UoL) has demonstrated the importance of intestinal tapeworm infection as an important and hitherto unrecognised risk factor for a major life-threatening acute intestinal disease (colic) in the horse. A novel serological test for exposure to the tapeworm infection was developed at UoL to provide a diagnostic tool for research and clinical applications. As a result, "best practice" equine preventive healthcare programmes now include anti-helminth and tapeworm control protocols and anti-tapeworm anthelmintics are licensed for use in the horse and marketed throughout the world. This research has had a major impact on equine health resulting in welfare and economic benefits for horses, their owners, veterinary practices and industry.
Research conducted at the University of Bristol between 2003 and 2012 on the ecology, epidemiology and control of parasitic flies and worms has improved animal health and welfare in the UK and is addressing a major constraint on global food production — animal disease, particularly in the context of climate change. These are some of the impacts:
Sea lice are the principal disease constraint for world Atlantic salmon culture and cost >€33m yearly in the UK and >€305m globally in terms of control measures and lost production. Research conducted by the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture (IoA) has provided tools and strategies for sea louse control in farmed salmon worldwide. Impacts have been delivered through an integrated pest management approach which involves
(1) introduction of management tools including fallowing, single year-class stocking and area management
(2) screening, development, licensing and monitoring of veterinary medicines
(3) development of alternative strategies such as use of cleaner fish (wrasse) and sea louse resistant salmon
(4) incorporation of integrated pest management principles into public policy and legislation.
These tools and approaches are now being used by the U.K. and global Atlantic salmon industries.