NEWS
Control the Crypto The parasite Cryptosporidium parvum is a zoonotic pathogen that can be spread between animals and humans causing disease. It is one of the most frequently diagnosed diarrhoea causing pathogens in young calves in the UK, as well as one of the top four pathogens causing diarrhoea in young children in developing countries globally, where it has been related to longer term problems with growth and development. Infected calves will shed billions of parasite eggs in their faeces and these eggs can survive in the environment for long periods of time
Moredun have produced a short animation in collaboration with animator Selina Wagner of Ping Creates to join the others in their successful series, outlining the management tools available to farmers to help control Cryptosporidium on farm, which also have the benefits of reducing the amount of the parasite in the environment and the risk to human health. New animation with a One Health message.
The animation, which was funded by the Moredun being a source of infection for other calves and
Foundation and the Biotechnology and Biological
also to people. It is clear then that controlling
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is informative
this parasite is important not only in terms
and fun to watch and can be viewed at:
of animal health, welfare and production
https://www.moredun.org.uk/foundation/
efficiency, but in public health as well.
outreach/animation-series.
Working in collaboration with NHS to help tackle COVID-19 Helping with a pandemic was not what we were expecting to be doing in our centenary year in 2020, but it exemplifies the spirit and ethos of all Moredun staff to step forward in a time of crisis to do what we can to help with the national effort. Moredun staff are very used to working with a range of different infectious agents that cause livestock diseases and they have the necessary high containment laboratory facilities and skilled staff to be able to work with viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. Together, Moredun and SRUC Veterinary Services provide internationally recognised diagnostic surveillance for livestock diseases in Scotland and have the capacity to deliver high throughput testing. Therefore we got together with colleagues at SRUC Veterinary Services to offer help and extra capacity to the NHS for testing of swab samples to detect the virus using molecular techniques. This involved a huge amount of work to re-purpose and fit out the high containment CL-3 laboratories, train our
volunteer staff, and prepare all the required assessments and operational procedures in a matter of weeks. We were driven on by the daily news updates on the spread of the virus and the need to provide more testing capacity. As fast as possible, the Moredun/SRUC testing capability was set up and validated to ensure compliance to NHS diagnostic standards and full integration into NHS systems. This was a significant project with staff across the whole organisation stepping up and working very hard to establish a new “testing node” in support of NHS which went live in June 2020. We are very proud of all the staff involved and that Moredun and SRUCVS were the first national veterinary centre to help NHS with testing for SARS-Cov-2. Efforts such as these show how effective a One Health approach can be to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and could provide capacity in the future to help tackle other potential zoonotic diseases. Scientists at Moredun have also been involved in several research projects to increase our knowledge and understanding of transmission of SARSCov-2 and immune responses induced by the virus.
Dr Ingolfur Johannessen, Director of NHS Lothian Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Lead for the Scottish National Laboratory Medicine Programme said, “We are delighted to work with the Moredun Research Institute and SRUC in a collaborative partnership approach to COVID-19 virus PCR testing, which builds on a template that NHS Scotland has created for such novel approaches in its efforts to expand national testing capacity and ensure resilience. The partnership with Moredun and SRUC expands that approach even further, supporting both NHS Lothian’s test requirements as well as overall national test capacity”.
Sheila Voas, Chief Veterinary Officer Scotland said, “I am delighted to see this example of One Health in action. This combined effort between the world class team at Moredun and SRUC has shown how vets and medics can work together to support the NHS and combat this pandemic”.
Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2020
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