Under vaccines, we develop vaccines for livestock diseases, focusing especially on ways to improve immune responses to protozoa parasites. We also improve existing vaccines (ECF, CBPP) and develop molecular approaches to problems.
Two new approaches could form the basis for the first-ever human vaccine for Rift Valley Fever (RVF), an infectious disease that threatens both farm animals and people, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research. Reported in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, experimental vaccines developed with these approaches produced strong immune responses in … Continue reading
Kampala — Uganda is set to start manufacturing poultry and animal drugs. This was announced at the commissioning of the construction of the veterinary pharmaceutical plant in Namanve last Thursday. The plant, which is estimated to cost $15m (about sh600m) will be carried out in three phases. Dr. Stephen Birungi, the managing director Farm Support … Continue reading
The Government’s quest to tap into the multi-million livestock disease vaccine market has moved a notch higher following the inauguration of a new board of directors to steer the Kenya veterinary vaccines production unit-(Kevevapi). Read more … (The Standard) Continue reading
… Every year, over one million cattle in east and southern Africa die from East Coast fever – that’s about one cow every thirty seconds. The hardship caused by the disease to livestock keepers and their families is terrible, and financially, the loss to east Africa alone is around 190 million US dollars each year. … Continue reading
Zebra-scented cattle will be roaming East Africa in increasing numbers over the next three years thanks to a grant to perfect a technology that keeps tsetse flies away. Researchers have developed repellent collars containing the synthetic equivalents of the odours of animals that tsetse flies tend to avoid — such as zebra. “We decided to … Continue reading
Kenya’s State-controlled livestock vaccine developer is preparing to tap into East Africa’s common market to shore up income as it targets emerging diseases. The Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Unit (Kevevapi), which was under Agriculture has now been transferred to the Livestock Development ministry. Read more … (Business Daily) Continue reading
In May, an East Coast fever (ECF) vaccine was registered by GALVmed in Tanzania. ECF is a tick transmitted disease which kills a million cattle every year and devastates the livelihood of those who depend on livestock for survival. Registration of the ECF vaccine is central to safety and efficacy and to securing the sustainability … Continue reading
“The project will focus on building a disease risk mapping system for three water-related high-impact vector-borne diseases (malaria, Rift Valley fever and schistosomiasis) in Africa, accounting for environmental/climatic trends to predict future risk.” The newly established SEI Africa Centre has been successful in taking part in a bid led by Trinity College Dublin for a … Continue reading
Brian Perry, a former senior scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, now a visiting professor of tropical veterinary medicine at the University of Oxford, in the latest issue of a newsletter produced jointly by Oxford, the Jenner Institute and the International Animal Health Institute, all in the United Kingdom, writes: … Continue reading
Livestock diseases have put Kenya under siege. This sorry state of affairs is a creation of a combination of factors that have complicated animal and disease surveillance in “an agricultural country” where herders, pastoralists, and ranches remain vulnerable, say experts. Read more … (Business Daily) Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 