The funds of this project will be used towards the construction of an animal containment facility at ILRAD. ILRAD has had major progress in developing a promising candidate vaccine against East Coast fever. To determine whether this will eventually be a basis for a widely applicable vaccine against this disease there is an immediate need to test its efficacy on upwards of 200 cattle against an infected tick challenge in carefully controlled pen trials. In addition to vaccine development and testing the containment facilities will enable ILRAD to carry out isolation of parasite materials obtained from other regions of the world affected by tick borne disease and trypanosomiasis. Unless properly handled, they represent a potential threat to livestock in the region. A facility of this type doesn't exist elsewhere in sub-saharan Africa, and thus will be available to assist other national and international laboratories in the region with similar containment needs.
Links:
[1] http://www.aciar.gov.au/iarc/International Livestock Research Institute
[2] http://www.aciar.gov.au/programarea/Livestock Production Systems