Agriculture University of Missouri researchers have created a revolutionary vaccine that protects cattle from one of the costliest tick-transmitted diseases in the U.S. and everywhere else for that matter, completely changing how they do market business in the $1.6 billion industry statewide.
Combating Bovine Anaplasmosis
A severe problem of the cattle industry is bovine anaplasmosis, a tick-borne disease affecting hundreds of millions dollars in economic losses annually. This devastating disease gets into the bloodstream of cattle, attacking red blood corpuscles and resulting in low productivity; considerable cost duetreatment and even death.
A group of researchers from the University of Missouri, led by Professor Roman Ganta, have developed a revolutionary new solution. Anaplasmosis would also be preventable since this group of researchers have now engineered a vaccine using a genetically modified form of the pathogen that causes bovine anaplasmosis and shown it successfully immunizes cattle against disease. This groundbreaking research, which may ultimately revolutionize Missouri’s $1.6 billion cattle industry and help farmers around the globe who have contended with the destructive impact of this tick-borne disease.
A Long-Awaited Solution
For years producers have been patiently waiting on an answer to the bovine anaplasmosis epidemic. Nearby, Professor Ganta, another leading expert in the field, answered an unending string of calls from farmers seeking a lifeline to protect their own herds.
Until now, that choice has been limited to an antibiotic called chlortetracycline, developed in 1945 at the University of Missouri’s Sanborn Field. Although effective, this treatment is not curative and so farmers remain at risk from the continuing impact of bTB.
This novel vaccine created by the Mizzou researchers is a huge step forward in the battle against bovine anaplasmosis. The research team has successfully immunized cattle against the wild-type Anaplasma marginale by genetically modifying the pathogen that causes it then using a version of it for inoculation. This novel method provides immune protection for at least a month, and can potentially even provide more durable protection as the researchers refine their approach.
Its a new dawn for livestock holders as a relief is around the corner in the form of ongoing distribution of this revolutionary vaccine. Ganta and his team have partnered with industry to make the patented solution commercially accessible to farmers in Missouri and around the globe.
Conclusion
The researchers in the University of Missouri have come up with a potential groundbreaking vaccine which would really be victory in ending bovine anaplasmosis. The vaccine offers a way to protect cattle from this devastating tick-borne disease, which threatens the $1.6 billion cattle industry in Missouri and nationwide and ultimately has implications for both farmers who rely on that revenue stream as well as consumers who depend on them them [sic] to keep their products price-competitive with other nations. If the vaccine is given leverage to build upon what its developers have begun, it could save the cattle industry a huge sigh of relief down the line.
