The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated £1.7 million towards the development of a vaccine against barbers pole worm (Haemonchus contortus), a parasite which is largely considered the most economically damaging of parasites in sheep and goats.
The grant, which was awarded to scientists at the Moredun Research Institute, near Edinburgh, Scotland and The Pirbright Institute in Woking, England, will reportedly be distributed over three years.
According to the Pirbright Institute, barber’s pole worm is widely distributed throughout the tropics and sub-tropics, where it severely impacts livestock production in all farming types, from subsistence to large scale commercial production.
However, the institute has stated that warmer and wetter weather conditions created as a result of climate change in recent years, have increased its incidence in Ireland and the UK.
- It affects both lambs and adult sheep;
- It develops rapidly among a herd;
- Sheep do not develop immunity from the parasite, unlike other stomach worms;
- It is a blood sucking parasite, which often presents itself like liver fluke, causing bottle jaw and anaemia in affected animals;
- Its egg count is prolific, figuring in the thousands rather than hundreds.
The main clinical signs of disease relate to the parasite’s blood-feeding behaviour, which leads to anaemia, weakness and death among impacted sheep.
Barber’s pole worm
Although traditionally controlled using medicines “wormers”, resistance against these wormers is now widespread in barber’s pole worm and a new solution to control the parasites is urgently needed, according to scientists at both research organisations.
While there is a vaccine against the parasite available at market, it is reportedly difficult and expensive to produce, making it an inaccessible option for farmers in low to middle income countries.
This led scientists at Moredun and Pirbright to develop a new, inexpensive vaccine using emerging monoclonal antibody technology, which will allow the scientists to pinpoint a known weak spot in the parasite’s gut, which can be targeted by vaccination.
Speaking about the research grant, scientific director of the Moredun Research Institute and principal investigator on the project, Prof. Tom McNeilly, said:
“This partnership will use novel and emerging technologies to produce a vaccine which has the potential to allow livestock producers throughout low to middle-income countries to put animal health and welfare at the centre of ensuring their livelihoods and food security in the region.”
While director of research at The Pirbright Institute, Prof. John Hammond, said:
“This project to tackle an important parasitic roundworm is an excellent example of how antibody techniques developed at Pirbright can now be applied broadly to support vaccine development in different animals against a range of diseases.
“Our Antibody Hub, funded through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provides the tools we need to discover, manipulate and test antibodies that can underpin next-generation vaccines.”
