Liver fluke: improving disease control through understanding of parasite diversity, drug resistance and better diagnosis. The benefits from this research include: (i) development of knowledge that will allow a better use of existing drug formulations to protect livestock from fasciolosis, potentially generating economic benefits to Australian producers of up to $50-80m/year; (ii) improved application of new commercial therapies for fasciolosis in ruminants, improving producer prosperity; (iii) ....Liver fluke: improving disease control through understanding of parasite diversity, drug resistance and better diagnosis. The benefits from this research include: (i) development of knowledge that will allow a better use of existing drug formulations to protect livestock from fasciolosis, potentially generating economic benefits to Australian producers of up to $50-80m/year; (ii) improved application of new commercial therapies for fasciolosis in ruminants, improving producer prosperity; (iii) enhanced training opportunities for graduate students that will build human capacity in technologies such as molecular diagnostics which have a wide application across the animal sectors; (iv) enhancement of our capacity to respond to unexpected future threats in production animals.Read moreRead less
Immunological mechanisms underlying the protective immune responses induced by botulinum oil adjuvanted vaccine. Botulism is recognised as an important bacterial pathogen in commercial beef cattle in Australia and around the world. Development of affective, well-researched vaccine against Clostridium botulinum is a high priority for the cattle industry. A novel oil adjuvanted vaccine (Singvac from Fort Dodge Pty Ltd) has advantage over conventional vaccines as it provides full protection follo ....Immunological mechanisms underlying the protective immune responses induced by botulinum oil adjuvanted vaccine. Botulism is recognised as an important bacterial pathogen in commercial beef cattle in Australia and around the world. Development of affective, well-researched vaccine against Clostridium botulinum is a high priority for the cattle industry. A novel oil adjuvanted vaccine (Singvac from Fort Dodge Pty Ltd) has advantage over conventional vaccines as it provides full protection following a single administration. The aims of this study are to investigate the immunological mechanisms underlying the protective response by this novel vaccine using bovine and murine models. This study will discover new control measures for botulism in Australia.Read moreRead less
An integrated genomics approach to improve our understanding of the biology of genital campylobacteriosis in beef cattle. Beef is Australia's most valuable agricultural export estimated at $9.6B annually and this industry accounts for one-third of full time employment in regional communities. Currently, unknown causes of reproductive losses in cattle in Northern Australian cost producers approximately $15M per annum. Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is one of the major risk factors associated w ....An integrated genomics approach to improve our understanding of the biology of genital campylobacteriosis in beef cattle. Beef is Australia's most valuable agricultural export estimated at $9.6B annually and this industry accounts for one-third of full time employment in regional communities. Currently, unknown causes of reproductive losses in cattle in Northern Australian cost producers approximately $15M per annum. Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is one of the major risk factors associated with this high cost due to the inability to accurately diagnose the disease. This research will integrate genomics and bioinformatics with infection and vaccination models to improve our understanding of the biology of the disease to develop appropriate control strategies securing Australia's beef industry.Read moreRead less
Vaccine against leptospirosis. This project will utilise the information from the determination of the complete genome sequence of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjobovis at Monash University. Bioinformatics analysis will be used to allow a global approach to identify all putative vaccine antigens which will be cloned, expressed and purified and their protective capacity investigated.
Structural and functional alteration of red blood cells by Babesia parasites. Cattle Tick Fever caused by Babesia parasites causes significant economic loss to the Australian livestock industry. New approaches to prevent this disease are urgently needed but this requires greater knowledge of how the parasites cause disease in cattle. By identifying novel proteins involved in the disease process we will be able to make better vaccines and drugs and save the Australian livestock industry millions ....Structural and functional alteration of red blood cells by Babesia parasites. Cattle Tick Fever caused by Babesia parasites causes significant economic loss to the Australian livestock industry. New approaches to prevent this disease are urgently needed but this requires greater knowledge of how the parasites cause disease in cattle. By identifying novel proteins involved in the disease process we will be able to make better vaccines and drugs and save the Australian livestock industry millions of dollars each year.Read moreRead less