May 17, 2006

US researchers initiate new vaccine development plan

USDA researchers at the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Centre (BARC) has initiated a new project that aims to accelerate the development of vaccines and tests for livestock diseases that threaten agriculture.

USDA is funding the US Veterinary Immune Reagent Network initiative with a $2.15 million grant for a core of eight research groups with collaborative efforts by more than 40 researchers in USDA, university, institutional, and industry laboratories.

Research is to focus on cattle, pigs, poultry, horses, catfish, and salmon, trout, and char.

University of Massachusetts veterinary immunologist Cynthia Baldwin would lead the cattle group and serve as principal investigator for the overall project.

The Veterinary Immune Reagent Network hopes to develop methods that can detect and quantify the concentration of soluble cytokine and chemokine proteins.

Costs involved in developing new drugs and live vaccines for major poultry diseases can be prohibitive.

According to Lillehoj, the need to develop novel approaches and alternative control strategies for many poultry diseases stems from stricter regulations and bans on the use of anti-coccidial drugs.

Since Coccidiosis which leads to weight loss or death in birds, causes losses of about US$700 million a year, there is more urgency to find a new vaccine.