Funding boosts Tb research

01-09-2010 | Not Specified

Bovine tuberculosis (Tb) research has received a boost with the award of a grant of $750,000 a year for five years to AgResearch's Tb Immunology and Animal Health team from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The team, led by Dr Bryce Buddle, has been working on developing a vaccine for Tb in cattle that is effective, economical and compatible with Tb testing methods.

Dr Buddle says a commercial spin-off from the team's research will be the potential for novel vaccines and diagnostic tests to be manufactured and sold to overseas markets, although this is a few years away. This new funding will enable the team to build on the breakthroughs made to date and create biotechnological tools to protect cattle and deer against Tb infection.

These tools will include vaccines to protect cattle against bovine Tb, a new skin test for cattle that will reduce the incidence of false positive results, and an investigation of diagnosing bovine Tb from pooled milk samples using an antibody test.

"The prospects for a vaccine to better control and reduce levels of bovine TB are encouraging," he says.

Although the level of infection in farmed animals is low, the cost of maintaining this level and controlling bovine Tb in New Zealand is over $100 million a year.

"New and low-cost strategies are needed to control bovine Tb if the Government hopes to meet its National Bovine Tuberculosis Pest Management Strategy Amendment targets and reduce the area where bovine Tb is endemic in wildlife from 40% to 30% of the country," Dr Buddle says.

"This funding will allow the team to pursue the development of low-cost strategies that will provide early detection and reduce the need for skin testing in vector-free areas."

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