Moredun Magazine issue 16

Moredun ISSUE 16 | AUTUMN/WINTER 2018

magazine

Moredun Scientific turns 30 Using bio-sensors to monitor the flock New grants to aid vaccine development

www.moredun.org.uk

Contents

Director’s comment

In this Issue: p1-3 News p4

Moredun Scientific celebrates its 30th birthday

p5

Pentlands Science Park update

p6

Monitoring the flock: The development of bio-sensors

p7

Collaboration with Brazil

p8

Out and About

p10

Working together to control OPA

p12

New grant to develop improved Q fever vaccines

p13

Moredun’s new Research Fellow

A very warm welcome to the Autumn/Winter issue of the Moredun Magazine.

Photo | Courtesy of AviateMedia

It has been another busy and successful year for the whole Moredun Group. Moredun Scientific are celebrating 30 years of providing contract research services to the animal health and biopharmaceutical industries and continue to go from strength to strength (page 4). Whilst, in the last few months, we were also delighted to welcome our colleagues from Scotland’s Rural College to the International Research Centre as new tenants of Pentlands Science Park (page 5).

This issue also highlights some of the diverse and interesting projects our scientists have been involved in and includes news of recent research

funding successes. Our strength in vaccine development is being utilised in a collaborative partnership looking to develop a new vaccine to protect livestock against foot and mouth disease (page 1), whilst a major funding award from BBSRC and the Department of Health will facilitate research into improved vaccines to control Q fever in livestock (page 12). In addition, an exciting collaboration with Heriot Watt University is looking at the potential of bio-sensors to help monitor the health status of the flock and has shown promise in the early detection of diseases such as sheep scab (page 6).

We have also continued to develop our knowledge exchange initiatives this year.

The latest addition to the Moredun Animation Series, Fight the Fluke, has received much praise since its launch at the NSA’s National Sheep Event in July (page 8). We would like to thank animator, Selina Wagner for bringing the topic to life and AHDB for their funding support. The event in Malvern was part of a busy summer outreach programme for our scientists who have been active in developing our partnerships with agricultural organisations and initiatives including working closely with the Farmer Network in the North of England and regional Monitor Farms in Scotland (page 9).

We hope that you enjoy this issue of the magazine and thank you for your continued support.

Julie Fitzpatrick Scientific Director and Chief Executive

Moredun Magazine Moredun magazine is produced twice a year and is available free of charge.

Designed and Produced by Moredun Communications Centre ©2018.

All images, unless otherwise stated, are ©Moredun.

To subscribe, contact: Moredun Communications Team, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

Comments, ideas, suggestions?

Get in touch and let us know.

Please contact: Moredun Communications Team, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ tel: +44 (0)131 445 5111 fax:+44 (0)131 445 6111 email: info@moredun.org.uk web: www.moredun.org.uk @MoredunComms

The Moredun Foundation is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland No. SC151865.

The Moredun Foundation is a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC022515 Address: Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PZ Cover image: Thinkstock.

NEWS

Honorary Fellowship for Professor John Preston The Moredun Foundation was delighted to award an honorary fellowship to Professor John Preston at its AGM on 6th September.

leading the establishment of Merial Limited through the merger of Rhône Mérieux (RhônePoulenc. France) and Merck AgVet (Merck & Co Inc., US), becoming the company’s founding Executive Chairman in 1997.

Following his retirement in 2000 John

John became a director of Moredun Scientific in 2005 bringing vast global experience of the

continued to be active in the animal health

pharmaceutical industry to the role he held

sector. In addition to his position on the

for almost 12 years.

Moredun Scientific board, John was awarded an honorary professorship from the

A veterinary graduate of Glasgow University, John spent six years in Kenya’s

University of Glasgow Veterinary School in

Veterinary Research Laboratories before

2007 and has sat on the boards of a number

returning to Europe to join Merck & Co Inc.

of companies, foundations and UK

(known as MSD outside the US and Canada).

government agencies, including the Veterinary

A number of roles within the organisation

Medicines Directorate and the Animal Health

followed including moving to the United States

Veterinary Laboratories Agency.

It was a great honour to be able to show

to assume worldwide responsibility for animal health clinical research and development and

John our appreciation and mark his vast

later becoming President of Merck AgVet,

contribution to Moredun and the animal

Merck’s animal health and agriculture division.

John’s prestigious career culminated in

Professor John Preston becomes an Honorary Fellow of the Moredun Foundation.

health industry by presenting him with a Moredun Foundation Honorary Fellowship.

Moredun collaborate to develop new vaccine to protect against Foot and Mouth Disease Scientists at Moredun are working on a collaborative project to develop a new vaccine to protect livestock against foot and mouth disease (FMD). The collaborative partnership with Tiba Biotechnology in the USA and the Agricultural Research Council-Ondestepoort Veterinary Institute (ARC-OVI) in South Africa will leverage Moredun’s world class vaccinology experience.

The project aims to develop a synthetic RNA vaccine which will protect livestock against multiple FMD virus strains whilst also being thermostable and easy to produce.

Engagement with regulators, public and private animal health practitioners and vaccine

manufacturers will facilitate scale up of the

only effective against homologous strains of

production and use of the vaccine.

virus. A new design of the vaccine delivered

The project is funded by the Livestock

by a synthetic RNA vector system holds the

Vaccine Innovation Fund (LVIF), established by

potential to deliver a much more effective,

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The

broadly protective and more affordable

International Development Research Centre

vaccine for FMD.

(IDRC) in Canada and Global Affairs Canada in

Dr Bill Golde, Moredun Principal

recognition of the urgent need to invest in the

Investigator, commented “We have assembled

development of novel livestock vaccine

an exciting research team from Tiba Biotech and

solutions for diseases that disproportionately

ARC-OVI to work on the development of this next

affect poor livestock smallholders in low and

generation FMD vaccine that will significantly

middle income countries (LMICs).

reduce the impact of this devastating disease on

FMD is the most contagious viral disease

livestock productivity.”

of cloven-hoofed animals. Although it is usually a low mortality disease, effects of

For more information please visit the LVIF website

FMD on productivity result in significant farm

www.idrc.ca/en/project/development-

income losses in LMICs every year. Current

cross-protective-synthetic-rna-vaccine-

vaccines are based on old technology and are

against-foot-and-mouth-disease-fmd

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

1

News A new beginning for the BSI Comparative Veterinary Immunology Group The mission of CVIG is to bring together veterinary, human and mouse immunologists and provide a forum for discussion, collaboration and exchange of ideas.

Moredun are delighted to be involved in the recently revived Comparative Veterinary Immunology Group (CVIG); an Affinity Group of the British Society for Immunology (BSI).

Sean Wattegedera, a Senior Research Scientist at Moredun has become part of a new committee created to help drive forward CVIG activities, promote the power of comparative immunology and inspire graduates to consider a career in veterinary immunology.

The new committee was proposed at the BSI Congress in December last year and along with Sean as Secretary/Treasurer comprises Elma Tchilian (The Pirbright Institute; Chair), Lindert Benedictus (The Roslin Institute; Communications), Linda Wooldridge (University of Bristol; Sponsorship) and Sungwon Kim (Royal Veterinary College).

The mission of CVIG is to bring together veterinary, human and mouse immunologists and provide a forum for discussion, collaboration and exchange of ideas. To achieve this, CVIG will organise a series of ambitious ‘Frontiers in Comparative Immunology’ meetings, each focussing on a particular topic.

The Group’s relaunch meeting is ‘Frontiers in human and veterinary antibody discovery’, which will be held on 26-27 November 2018 at The Pirbright Institute. It is supported by the UK Veterinary Vaccinology Network (VVN) and the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), with both organisations kindly providing travel grants to the meeting.

2

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

Moredun’s Professor Gary Entrican and Sean Wattegedera on the BSI stand at the 5th European Congress for Immunology.

November’s inaugural meeting will pull together world leading researchers from the UK and beyond to share their research from different species and disciplines and to demonstrate the power of comparative immunology to illuminate aspects of immune function and inform vaccine design.

Moving forward, the CVIG committee

the committee are actively looking to develop outreach and links with other partners to organise a major meeting on animal and human health in 2020.

Following a busy and positive year for the new committee, it’s exciting times for comparative veterinary immunology and we wish the CVIG every success going forward.

is busy developing the next series of events and has just confirmed a second meeting,

For more information about BSI’s Comparative

a satellite to the UK VVN and the IVVN

Veterinary Immunology Group or to register for

Conference on 11 January 2019 in London

their events, please visit the BSI website

focusing on ‘Non-conventional T cells’. Plans

www.immunology.org/comparative-

are also in place to bid for themed sessions at

veterinary-immunology or follow them on

other BSI meetings and Congress. In addition,

Twitter using BSI_CVIG @compvetimm.

NEWS

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick awarded BVA Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal Congratulations to Moredun’s Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director Professor Julie Fitzpatrick who was awarded the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) most prestigious scientific award at the BVA Members’ Day in September.

Julie was presented with the DalrympleChampneys Cup and Medal at the event in York in recognition of her outstanding contribution to UK and global livestock health and welfare in a career spanning three decades.

A graduate of the University of Glasgow’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Julie received an early accolade when she was recognised as the McCall Award winner for the most outstanding veterinary student throughout the course. After five years in mixed practice, she established herself as a dedicated veterinary teacher and researcher.

In her 14 years at the helm of Moredun, Professor Fitzpatrick has been extremely successful in her work directing and sourcing funding for research into endemic diseases and disease control tools for the livestock industry.

Among many influential roles, she is currently chair of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) Scientific Advisory Panel.

As well as leading vital and innovative research programmes in Scotland and the wider UK, Julie has made an outstanding contribution to international development, especially in relation to livestock in developing countries. She has set up and led several research projects in Africa (based mainly in Tanzania) and it is through this work that Julie became deeply involved with GALVmed, a livestock health partnership funded by DFID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

She was also recently appointed Chair of the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDs).

BVA’s Dalrymple-Champneys Award adds to the several prestigious awards that Professor Fitzpatrick has already received including Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2007), the Royal Smithfield Club Bicentenary Trophy for contributions to agriculture (2016) and an OBE for services to animal research and medicine (2014).

Professor Julie Fitzpatrick, Moredun’s Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director.

BVA’s most prestigious scientific award recognises Professor Julie Fitzpatrick’s exceptional record in research and development.

On awarding the Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal for 2018, BVA President John Fishwick said: “Professor Fitzpatrick has raised the prestige of the veterinary profession nationally and internationally through her strategic leadership in veterinary science. Her dedication to improving livestock health and welfare through science and education has benefitted veterinary and farming communities across the world. She is an excellent

In response to being awarded the Dalrymple-Champneys Cup and Medal, Professor Fitzpatrick said: “It is a huge honour to receive the DalrympleChampneys Cup and Medal from BVA. I have been very fortunate indeed to have had a challenging and rewarding career in research and development.

I have particularly enjoyed the focus on health and welfare of livestock species, an interest initiated during my time as an undergraduate at Glasgow Vet School and subsequently reinforced in my first job in mixed practice.

I am delighted to accept this award which reflects the innovative and practical research undertaken by my many colleagues at Moredun and with collaborators across the world.”

ambassador for veterinary science and research and a most worthy recipient of this award.”

The first Dalrymple-Champneys Award was made at the BVA’s 1934 Annual Congress and was presented by physician Sir Weldon DalrympleChampneys as a mark of the esteem in which he held the veterinary profession. The object of the award is that a presentation be made to a member of the BVA to mark and recognise work of outstanding merit, which it is considered will encourage the advancement of veterinary science.

Each year a Selection Committee elects the recipient of the award from nominations submitted by members of the Association.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

3

News Moredun Scientific celebrates its 30th birthday Utilising Moredun’s expert knowledge of animal diseases, the company was created in 1988 to deliver world class commercial services to the animal health industry.

Moredun Scientific is celebrating 30 years of providing contract research and testing services to the global animal health and biopharmaceutical industries.

The company was created in 1988 as the commercial arm of the Moredun Research Institute (MRI) to apply Moredun`s expert knowledge of animal diseases and its stateof-the-art animal facilities to provide world class commercial services to the animal health industry. Over the 30 year duration, Moredun Scientific has tested a wide range of new and improved veterinary vaccines and therapeutics. In recent years the increasing global concern about antimicrobial resistance has resulted in the development of innovative potential alternatives to antimicrobials, many of which have been tested by the Moredun Scientific team.

Moredun Scientific’s animal health business continues to deliver efficacy and safety testing studies for veterinary vaccines and therapeutics to the leading global animal health companies. The company’s portfolio of services was originally ovine/bovine focussed

4

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

however in recent years we have successfully developed a range of porcine models which are extensively used for testing new and improved porcine medicines. Poultry models are also being developed to assess the safety and efficacy of feeds and feed supplements.

Moving into the company’s fourth decade, the intention is to extend our services to aquaculture which would utilise existing skills and expertise and develop infectious disease models to test medicinal products for fish.

The Biosafety testing division was launched in 2008 to widen the business base and provide regulatory compliance testing of cell lines, cell banks and final human biopharmaceutical products for the global biopharmaceutical industry. This business area has grown strongly with customers across Europe and Asia.

Strategic partnerships have been formed with key clients who appreciate the flexibility and commitment of the team to the on-time delivery of test results in a highly regulated environment.

John Murray, Managing Director of Moredun Scientific said “The strong partnership with MRI has been an important contributor to our success and we are proud to celebrate this significant milestone in our company’s development. We would like to thank our clients, collaborators and staff for their continued support.”

Pentlands Science Park

Photo | Courtesy of AviateMedia

New Tenants at PSP

Aerial view of Pentlands Science Park.

It has been a busy time at Pentlands Science Park with refurbishments, relocations and the arrival of new tenants. The major project over the summer and autumn has undoubtably been the refurbishment of the main building to allow our colleagues at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to move in. Sharing facilities and services within the International Research Centre will bring great benefits to collaborative working and will help form a key part of our strategic relationship with SRUC. With APHA now successfully located in the Glencourse Building, the SRUC fit-out is in full swing and due for completion in December.

Aside from this major project, several of our tenants have extended their leases recently and we have welcomed two new tenants to the science park.

Roslin Foundation and Censo Biotechnologies Ltd have both taken new office leases in the Doherty Building having relocated from Roslin BioCentre which is to be demolished ahead of the re-development

of the wider former Roslin Institute site.

Work is ongoing with Censo to move into the ground floor laboratories in Douglas House on completion of a substantial fit-out.

Both the Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines (GALVmed) and AB Biotechnology Ltd have agreed to extend their current leases and with other tenants indicating that they wish to extend their leases

too, the Park will be close to 100% occupation by the turn of the year. This is fantastic news and invaluable in terms of rental income and service charge recovery.

We value our tenants and aim to ensure that we provide excellent support services and that they value both the location and the support. As PSP approaches its 25th anniversary in 2019 we still retain a number of long-standing tenants such as Biobest, LTS International, SNBTS, BioReliance and CSI Europe as well as our own Moredun Scientific.

We’ve established excellent relationships with them over the years and the interaction with Moredun and access to facilities, services and expertise has proved valuable to all.

We have excellent, long standing, relationships with many of our suppliers and contractors too with our cleaners, Autoshine, having been with us for some 16 years now and many of our security staff have been here for at least as long, despite changes in the contract provider.

PSP is a nice place to work and our own workers, and contractor employees alike, feel part of the Moredun family.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

5

Research Monitoring the flock: The development of bio-sensors

The smart sensor system created has shown potential to detect sheep scab at a very early stage.

Livestock production is facing increasing pressure to improve production efficiency while maintaining high standards of animal health and welfare. Early and effective treatment of disease can help to reduce losses and costs, however early identification of disease can be challenging.

Moredun Research Institute and Heriot-Watt University have been investigating the use of new technologies to monitor animal health status to support better and quicker decision making. This approach is known as precision livestock farming and consists of using sensors and systems to monitor individual animals to improve farm management. This partnership is jointly funded by Moredun, Heriot-Watt University and the Engineering & Physical Research Council under the Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence (CDT-EI) programme.

A sensor prototype system to monitor sheep behaviour was designed and manufactured at Heriot-Watt, and tested at Moredun. It consists of a sensor integrated into a collar, which can continuously monitor animal behaviour. The sensor is designed to be lightweight, easy-to-use and cost-effective.

Special attention has been taken to maximise

Prototype of the lightweight sensor integrated into a collar.

6

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

battery life by using low-power electronics and smart schedules of operation.

The data gathered by the sensor is analysed using a novel algorithm based on machine learning techniques. The device collects data to create an individualised model of the animals’ behaviour, which can be classified into criteria such as lying down, grazing, ruminating and walking. It also establishes what constitutes normal behaviour for each animal and can highlight when the behaviour of this animal deviates from normal.

The model also encodes for how long and in which order the animals spend doing each activity. The device can be used to detect sudden changes in animal behaviour or specific diseases e.g. lameness. The main benefits of the sensor lies in its flexibility and ability to detect different diseases and events.

Diseases and other unforeseen events can greatly affect production yields. However usually these can be mitigated by reducing the intervention time. Using this technology disease outbreaks can be quickly detected and the farmer can be informed of the situation via a mobile phone.

One disease for which rapid detection is especially important is sheep scab, since it is a highly contagious disease that can quickly spread through the flock within a few weeks after the first infestation. Sheep scab is considered the most important ectoparasitic infection of sheep in the UK and represents a threat to both animal welfare and farm economics. At the moment, sheep scab is usually detected at a later stage of infestation when production losses are inevitable.

The smart sensor system created has shown potential to detect sheep scab at a very early stage, when the disease has not had time to spread through the flock and the harm to the animal is minimal. This technique has been designed to work alongside current diagnostics to help detect potential disease threats.

In summary, this project highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration to develop new technologies and provides exciting new possibilities for the improvement of disease detection in grazing animals for the benefits of the farming community.

RESEARCH

Collaboration with Brazil Moredun scientists have had a longstanding collaboration for over 20 years with colleagues in Brazil looking at the prevention and control of infections caused by protozoan parasites. The collaboration has involved the exchange of staff between organisations, hosting of visiting scientists and postgraduate students at Moredun and working visits to Brazil to take part in international conferences and workshops.

The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most successful parasites worldwide, being capable of infecting all warm blooded animals including humans. Moredun has been active in research into toxoplasmosis as a major cause of abortion in sheep for several years where the research has focussed on understanding the host parasite relationship and using this to inform vaccine development.

More recently the research has focussed on the impact of Toxoplasma as a food borne pathogen as it can be transmitted to people through the consumption of undercooked meat from food animals harbouring T. gondii cysts in their tissues. New impact assessments, using disability adjusted life years, have placed T. gondii as one of the most important foodborne pathogens worldwide.

Professor Lee Innes presents Keynote lecture in Brazil.

Dr Frank Katzer presents at the XX Congresso Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria.

In Brazil there is a greater diversity of strains of T.gondii compared to those found in the UK and Europe, and the strains in Brazil appear to be more virulent. One of the aims of the collaboration is to compare the disease epidemiology in Brazil and UK to help improve our understanding of parasite virulence and disease pathogenesis to improve our collective

ability to tackle this global pathogen. Recently Moredun scientists Professor Lee Innes and Dr Frank Katzer visited Brazil to take part in the XX Congresso Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria in Londrina to discuss the importance of a one health approach to tackle toxoplasmosis globally.

L to R: Professor JL Garcia, Dr Frank Katzer and Professor Lee Innes.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

7

Out and About Moredun partner the Farmer Network at events in the North of England In August, Moredun scientists Dr Fiona Kenyon and Dr Beth Wells travelled to Rigg House Farm, near Workington in Cumbria, to take part in a farmer led event organised by the Farmer Network. The event looked at how grassland management and intestinal worm control methods can help achieve sustainable production of lamb.

Targeted Selective Treatment as a method of

second Farmer Network event. Focussing on

sustainable worm control in lambs, making use

current animal health issues, this farmer’s

of EID and automated sheep handling systems.

drop in event included the treatment and

Grassmaster, Charlie Morgan took the farmers

management of fluke and worms in sheep and

through the grassland element of the event

cattle and showcased how animal electronic

highlighting the importance of healthy soil for

identification (EID) and livestock handling

grass growth and how to create the right soil

systems currently available to farmers could

conditions that would be resilient in flood

be used in this regard.

Dr Fiona Kenyon gave insights from her research and discussed how to apply

road again, this time to Kell Gill Farm near

the host farms for the invitation to take part in

Leyburn in Yorkshire, to support a

these two fantastic events.

and drought.

In September, Fiona and Beth took to the

We would like to thank the Farmer Network and

Show round up “We hope our new ‘Fight the Fluke’ animation, produced in partnership with AHDB, will help get these complex but key messages of liver fluke control across in an informative and entertaining way, that is easy to understand and remember.”

Dr Philip Skuce, Principal Scientist and fluke specialist, Moredun

Moredun had a very enjoyable and interactive show season taking part in livestock events throughout the UK this summer.

Launching Fight the Fluke at NSA Sheep Event in Malvern. L to R: Moredun’s Dr Beth Wells and Dr Philip Skuce, Katie Thorley, AHDB and Frank Langrish, Chairman of Moredun’s South of England Regional Board.

to launch our latest animated film,

that are key to fluke risk assessment and

Fight the Fluke, at the NSA National Sheep

sustainable control on farm.

Event in Malvern.

Staff had the opportunity to discuss many

8

Joining forces once again with animator

To watch Fight the Fluke and discover other short videos in our animation series

different livestock health and welfare

Selina Wagner (Blobina Animations), Fight

issues and raise awareness of the work of

the Fluke provides an engaging platform to

Moredun to livestock producers, industry

highlight the importance of understanding

For further information about the future shows

representatives and members of the public.

the liver fluke life cycle, as well as available

and events Moredun will be attending please visit

Whilst on our travels we were delighted

diagnostic, treatment and control options

our website www.moredun.org.uk/events.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

please visit www.moredun.org.uk/animation

OUT AND ABOUT

Midlothian Monitor Farm partner with Moredun to apply new diagnostic technologies We welcomed the management group of the Midlothian Monitor Farm, Saughland Farm, to Moredun in July to discuss how we could best work together to apply research tools being developed at Moredun to improve livestock health and welfare.

Since July, Moredun scientists Dr Stewart Burgess and Dr Fiona Kenyon have carried out several farm visits and attended the recently held open day to further develop and discuss proposals. The projects will not only assist with parasite control and enhance biosecurity on the farm but will aid Moredun scientists in the development of the practical aspects of Moredun’s Dr Fiona Kenyon talks to farmers at the Midlothian Monitor Farm.

new technologies and control methods.

Proposed projects at the Midlothian Monitor Farm Sheep scab:

Sheep roundworms:

The use of the existing sheep scab diagnostic and validation of the pen-side test, currently under development at Moredun, will be used to confirm the sheep scab free status in the flock at Saughland and to test newly bought in tups for enhanced biosecurity, before they are turned out with the ewes.

The use of Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) as a sustainable method of roundworm control will be introduced at Saughland and applied to this season’s lamb crop post weaning. It is intended to weigh 1200 lambs every fortnight and only treat those not making target weight gains with anthelmintics.

Biggar Science Festival Moredun staff had a fantastic day supporting the Biggar Science Festival in September. Now in its second year, the festival has gone from strength to strength and it was a pleasure to be part of the activities once again.

Foodborne Disease Detectives was a big hit with Moredun scientists helping visitors don their detective hats to identify the correct culprit from the line-up of foodborne pathogens.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

9

Research Working together to control ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma “Doing nothing is not an option” was the unanimous opinion of the farmers, vets and sheep health experts participating at a workshop held at Moredun to discuss the way forward to control ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA).

The event in June saw representatives from across the industry come together to learn more about current OPA research and to discuss the options and challenges involved in controlling this viral disease. Dr Chris Cousens, Moredun, commented at the workshop: “We were delighted to host this workshop to bring people together from

OPA is an infectious lung cancer specific to sheep caused by a virus known as Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus. Typical signs in an affected animal are difficulty in breathing often with marked loss in weight although clinical signs may not show for several years. OPA is commonly introduced to flocks through the purchase of apparently healthy animals carrying the virus which can be spread to other animals within the flock.

across the sheep industry to discuss how we can tackle OPA. It is imperative that we continue our research to develop and apply better diagnostic tests and tools to control the disease.”

In the absence of any vaccine, treatment or blood test, ultrasound scanning as a diagnostic tool to identify sheep with preclinical OPA could be key in helping to control this insidious disease.

Applying ultrasound scanning to detect pre-clinical OPA in sheep.

10

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

The workshop concluded that there is a clear appetite within the livestock industry to tackle OPA although education is still needed regarding awareness of the disease and its transmission.

Ultrasound scanning as a basis for test-and-cull is proving useful in tackling OPA in individual flocks as described by the researchers, farmers and vets presenting at the workshop, and the majority of delegates strongly supported this method of control.

Use of scanning for a national eradication scheme was thought to be a step too far at the current time. However, much discussion was raised around the possibility of a scheme which would allow individual flocks to achieve monitored OPA status in order to sell sheep certified as low risk for OPA transmission. As well as ultrasound screening, post mortem examination of cull sheep and feedback from abattoirs could have an important role in monitoring flocks for OPA. There is a clear appetite within the livestock industry to tackle OPA although education is still needed regarding awareness of the disease and its transmission. The workshop concluded that the time was right to look at developing an OPA scheme which is a significant and welcome step forward for the sheep industry.

Sheila Voas, Chief Veterinary Officer Scotland commented on the day: “We need to work together to tackle OPA as we now have the tools to make a difference. Prevention and control of diseases such as OPA will significantly improve the health and welfare of our sheep flocks and will improve production efficiency and increase profitability for farm businesses.”

NEWS

Barbervax® update Moredun’s vaccine for Barber’s Pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is now available for sheep and goats in the UK. Millions of doses of Barbervax®, the first vaccine in the world for a gut-dwelling worm parasite of any host, have been sold in Australia during the last four seasons. It is also proving popular in South Africa where it is called Wirevax.

Recently, permission for UK vets to prescribe Barbervax® through a Special Treatment Certificate was granted.

Further information can be found at http://barbervax.com.au/ or contact David Smith on david.smith@moredun.ac.uk.

Grass, minerals and flukes Poldean Farm near Moffat, run by the Davidson family, was the venue in October for a very well attended and successful farm event run by Moredun and the Crown Estate Scotland.

The event was designed to explore links between farm bedrock, soils, grassland production and usage, with trace mineral availability and livestock health, such a liver fluke control.

During the day expert speakers in their field, Charlie Morgan (Grass Master), David McClelland (Norvite) and Philip Skuce (Moredun) discussed best integrated practice to manage these aspects of grass and livestock production aimed at increasing efficiency.

The key messages from the afternoon were that huge improvements in the efficiency of livestock production can be made by making changes to how we manage our grassland systems and by improving our grazing regimes.

Crown Estate Scotland Head of Property Andy Wells said: “Events like this are hugely beneficial in sharing practical actions that farmers can take to plan and prepare for future developments in the agriculture sector.

We greatly value the partnership we have with the Moredun Research Institute which enables farmers across the Scottish Crown Estate to access up-to-date, cutting-edge, scientific research supporting animal welfare and livestock productivity.”

2018 Christmas Card and Gift Range Christmas is now just around the corner, and we are delighted that The Moredun Foundation have a selection of Christmas gifts and merchandise for sale to members and supporters this year.

Further information can be found on our website www.moredun.org.uk/shop

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018 11

Research New grant to develop improved Q fever vaccines Researchers from the Moredun Research Institute together with partners from Wageningen, in The Netherlands, and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, have received a major funding award of over £1 million from BBSRC and the Department of Health to develop improved vaccines to control Q fever in livestock.

Q fever is an important and highly contagious disease of worldwide importance affecting both livestock and humans caused by the intracellular Gram-negative bacterium, Coxiella burnetii. Infection of humans occurs following exposure to as few as 1-10 bacteria and can result in both acute and chronic forms of disease. Infections can result in death, especially in the elderly or immunocompromised. Livestock, in particular sheep and goats, are the major source of human infections. The disease in livestock can cause abortion, stillbirth and delivery of weak offspring which can result in devastating economic losses to farmers in Europe as well as low to middle income countries, particularly during abortion storms where up to 35% losses can occur.

Vaccines are currently considered the most effective way to control Q fever, and vaccines based on inactivated C. burnetii organisms are commercially available for use in both ruminants and humans. However, the safety of these vaccines is a major issue considering that severe local and systemic reactions occur post-vaccination in humans

Coxiella burnetii organisms (green) in in vitro cell culture. Picture provided by Henrik-Jan Roest, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, Netherlands.

12

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018

L to R: Dr Hendrik-Jan Roest (Wageningen), Dr Ad Koets (Wageningen), Dr Bill Golde (Moredun), Professor Søren Buus (University of Copenhagen), Dr David Longbottom, Dr Al Nisbet and Dr Tom McNeilly (all Moredun).

previously exposed to the bacteria and vaccination of ruminants is associated with significant production losses. Furthermore, manufacture of these vaccines involves growth of the organisms in culture or hens eggs, which has both cost and safety issues. These issues have resulted in limited use of these vaccines; for example, human vaccines are only licenced for use in Australia. There is an urgent need to develop safe, effective and easily manufactured vaccines to control Q fever in both humans and livestock species.

Attempts have been made to develop subunit vaccines targeting key C. burnetii proteins which would be safer to manufacture and could be engineered to induce fewer side effects following vaccination. However, current approaches to subunit vaccine development have been severely hampered by a lack of knowledge of the appropriate bacterial proteins to target.

In the currently funded project (CoxiMap), the researchers will use a novel peptide chip array technology developed at the University of Copenhagen to identify the key C. burnetii proteins recognised by antibodies from sheep and goats vaccinated with the current protective, but unsafe commercial vaccine in a high throughput and detailed manner. These antibody responses will be compared with those generated by a non-protective C. burnetii vaccine which is based on a different (nonvirulent) form of the bacteria. By comparing

antibody responses from protected and nonprotective vaccines, bacterial proteins which are specifically targeted by the protective vaccine will be identified. Synthetic versions of these proteins will then be generated and subunit vaccines based on pools of these proteins will be tested in a sheep challenge model. This will provide preliminary safety and efficacy data to inform future Q fever vaccine development programmes.

Dr Tom McNeilly, principal investigator of the project, said “Q fever is a significant issue for both livestock and human health, and while current vaccines are available, their manufacture is both problematic and the side effects of vaccines have limited their use. By teaming up with Wageningen, leading experts in Q fever in livestock, and deploying cutting edge peptide chip technologies developed at the University of Copenhagen, we hope to use Moredun’s expertise in livestock vaccines to develop new prototype vaccines which are both cheap to manufacture and safe to use.

Furthermore, by characterising antibody responses in both vaccinated and C. burnetii challenged animals, diagnostic tests capable of differentiating vaccinated from infected animals may also be developed.”

For further information, please contact Dr Tom McNeilly (Tom.McNeilly@moredun.ac.uk).

RESEARCH

Talking data, Soay sheep and the joys of shorts with Moredun’s new Research Fellow Dr Adam Hayward joined Moredun back in April as our new Moredun Research Fellow. To celebrate 6 months in post we thought it was time we caught up with him for a chat about science, data and life in general.

animals in their customary environment, we can study how variation in many factors influences the outcome of infections or treatments. Second, it seems to me that a lot more data is being collected on livestock disease, both on farms and in scientific studies. The statistical tools which are used fairly routinely

How did you become involved in science?

in ecology, but which are less well-known in

I chose Biology over English Literature at University, mainly because I didn’t want reading to become a chore, I think, and ended up really getting into evolutionary biology and parasitology in my last year. My final project involved studying field mice in a wood near Nottingham and investigating the factors which affected their parasite burden, and I enjoyed it so much I thought it would be fun as a career.

essential in unpicking patterns from this data.

veterinary science, are going to be absolutely This is how I hope to make a difference to research at Moredun.

What do you like about your job?

The dizzying highs (paper or grant acceptance) which make the crushing lows (frequent grant/ paper rejections) worthwhile; the fact that I Dr Adam Hayward.

how tiny); the freedom to wear shorts to work;

What led you to this point?

A slightly convoluted path! My PhD in evolutionary biology was at Edinburgh, investigating interactions between wild Soay sheep living in the St Kilda archipelago and their nematode parasites. I then moved to Sheffield for three years, mainly to study recent human evolution using 300 years of church record data collected from Finland, but I also helped to set up a parasitology project on Asian elephants in Myanmar (Burma). My last two years were spent at Stirling University, where I worked on Soay sheep again, and was interested in how reproduction influenced responses to nematode infection. I suppose that ultimately I’m here because I have a background in disease research and lots of experience analysing big, messy datasets, which I think is crucial given how much data is being generated on farms and in experimental studies of livestock.

learn something new every day (no matter the ability to make a tangible difference to the

individuals must make about putting resources

important societal pressure of feeding everyone.

into defence or traits such as growth and reproduction.

What are the aims of your Moredun Research Fellowship?

My overall aim is to develop a programme of research, get some external funding and start to build a research group. Currently, I’m trying to get involved in work led by other people as a gentle introduction to the Institute. My background is in evolutionary biology, so I’m trying to learn as much as possible about livestock diseases and management while trying to apply my experience to research in these areas.

How can ecology help us understand livestock disease?

First, most biology is done under controlled

What is the most challenging part of your job?

At the moment, it’s getting to grips with the field of livestock disease and management, which is almost entirely new to me. This means that I have fascinating and useful conversations every day, but also means that I also feel like an idiot a lot of the time. I have to keep telling myself that getting to grips with over a century of veterinary research might take a while…

What was your proudest moment?

Probably getting accepted for a PhD. I still have no idea why my (absolutely brilliant) supervisor plumped for a guy with no Master’s who’d spent the previous year stacking shelves.

What is host-parasite ecology in a nutshell?

experimental conditions, but even under tight

What keeps you busy outside of work?

experimental control, weird stuff happens:

Our son is almost a month old, so currently

The study of how hosts and parasites interact under natural conditions. Some fundamental questions include that of why some individuals get bigger infections or get sicker than others; how this influences disease transmission; and how exposure influences the decisions

some animals don’t respond to treatment,

him! Other than that, I like to spend as much

for example. If a treatment doesn’t always

time as possible running and walking in the hills,

produce the desired effect under controlled

drinking tea, listening to the cricket and cooking.

conditions, it certainly won’t produce the

Now I can get the bus to work, I might even

desired effect ‘on the pasture’, because

start reading more, most of which will be about

everything out there varies. By studying

medieval history with the odd novel thrown in.

Moredun Magazine | Autumn/Winter 2018 13

The Moredun Foundation is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland No. SC151865.

The Moredun Foundation is a charity registered in Scotland, No. SC022515.

Address: Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 0PZ.

4,000/JTCP

www.moredun.org.uk