7.5million parasitic disease research project will help Great Britains livestock sector

The health of Great Britains livestock sector will receive a big boost thanks to a grant to fund research into potential new vaccines for parasitic diseases, says the NFU.

Edinburgh-based Moredun Research Institute has been given a European Union grant to carry out a series of research projects into parasitic worms over the next three years. NFU animal health and welfare adviser Catherine McLaughlin said livestock keepers throughout Great Britain would see the benefits of this decision.

Science has a key role to play in food production and any research that can help reduce the impact of debilitating parasitic disease among our farmed livestock must be welcomed.

Research such as this can help farmers and growers meet the increasingly challenging demands of producing more food while impacting less on the environment.

There is growing concern at the levels of resistance which these parasitic worms are acquiring to conventional wormers. This has serious implications for the health and welfare of our animals and therefore we look forward to the results of these studies as solutions to this growing threat, she added.

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead made the grant announcement at a reception at the Scottish Parliament last night (June 22).

The money will come from the European Unions Framework 7 and will go to Moredun to fund projects with help from 20 academic partners.

One of the consortiums priorities will be to look at vaccines for parasitic diseases such as roundworm, tapeworm and fluke.

1)      The actual grant was 9million. The above figure is based on exchange rates as of 12pm 22 June 2010

2)      Control of nematode parasites is currently done by the use of anthelmintics but acquired resistance to such wormers is a serious threat to the health and welfare of our livestock

3)      The consortium will include 11 groups from the EU, three from South America as well as Africa, two from Asia and one from Australia