The University of Queensland (UQ) is making progress on a “highly effective” vaccine to address one of the “top cattle pests”. The vaccine, developed by the Tabor Laboratory at UQ’s Centre for Animal Science, is moving into trials supported by an Australian grant. The research began in 2005 using a reverse vaccinology approach. There are around 1.46 billion cattle, and UQ states that 80% of these in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world are at risk from ticks and their diseases. This causes estimated annual losses of $US22 billion – $US30 billion.
Australian interests
Australia is one of the largest exporters of cattle in the world, with 60% of exports coming from northern Australia. UQ suggests that cattle tick and tick-borne diseases cost around $175 million each year in losses. Furthermore, reproductive wastage has a significant economic impact on cattle production in northern Australia. Recognising the potential of the UQ vaccine, Australia’s Economic Accelerator Seed Grants is supporting the programme of two vaccine trials.
Dr Hannah Siddle from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation is excited to move to larger trials, recognising that the Australian beef industry “loses $128 million a year because of cattle ticks”, which can “swell into the many billions” globally.
“The beauty of this vaccine is that it protects the cattle from the effects of tick feeding and breaks the life cycle of any tick that bites a vaccinated animal – they don’t lay as many eggs and those eggs don’t hatch with the same efficiency.”
The current treatment option is spraying or dipping cattle with chemical pesticides, which Dr Siddle believes is “not a sustainable solution for the industry” as it tries to “reduce the amount of chemicals in the food chain”. Furthermore, there are “concerns ticks are developing resistance to current treatments, which is happening more often in different parts of the world”.
“This trial will allow us to bridge the gap between the basic research and proving it’s a cost-effective vaccine that works in a larger number of animals, allowing us to get a commercial partner on board.”
Professor Ala Tabor, who led the earlier trial, said getting to the commercial phase “is like a dream come true because you work on it for so long”.
“It’s really special to be in a translational research space where you work on something that may actually be used in Australia and elsewhere. There are other vaccines around the world that people are claiming have good efficacy, but I think we are ahead of the game.”
Professor Tabor hopes the grant will “allow us to prove it”.
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