UQ-led teams to develop advanced cattle vaccines

University of Queensland researchers are working on two vaccines for common diseases in cattle, which in tandem could save the Queensland cattle industry alone over $340 million a year, say UQ scientists.

The researchers, Dr Neena Mitter and Dr Tim Mahony, will lead research aimed at creating vaccines for cattle tick infestations and the health problems they cause, as well as other common diseases.

Mitter, a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), and partners at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) will lead up a team that will use nanotechnology to create a multi-purpose vaccine.

“Our goal is to create a vaccine that will target three major animal-health problems: bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) and cattle tick fever (Anaplasmosis),” Mitter said.

These three diseases are estimated to cost the Queensland cattle industry around $200 million a year.

The researchers hope to develop a single-dose nano-vaccine that's stable at room temperature, and does not require any additional agent to be effective.

Mahony is heading a separate team working on a polymer-based anti-tick vaccine aimed at solving the costly problem of cattle tick infestation.

The aim is to develop a single-dose vaccine. Most cattle vaccines currently require multiple doses can be effective, but many major beef industry enterprises can only manage to muster their cattle once or twice per year, which makes dosing difficult.

Collaborators in the project include Queensland government scientists, Washington State University, Pfizer, the CRC for Polymer Technologies, the University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology and Virbac Australia.

The Queensland government will also support the projects with a $1 million grant.