The Department for International Development (DFID); the Defence Scienece and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and four UK research Councils (BBSRC, MRC, NERC) have funded £20.5M to the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems Programme (ZELS). This programme will fund 11 projects in 11 developing countries involving UK and overseas research institutes.
One particular project funded by the programme and relative to the Veterinary Vaccinology Network is 'Combating bird flu by developing new diagnostic tools and vaccines' Dr. Munir Iqbal at The Pirbright Institute.
This is of particular importance as a confirmed case of bird flu is reported at a duck farm in East Yorkshire late this weekend (16/11/2014).
Other Projects funded in the ZELS programme are:
- Looking at factors affecting transmission of zoonotic pathogens from livestock to people. Professor Sarah Cleaveland, University of Glasgow
- Zoonoses in Livestock in Kenya (ZooLINK). Professor Eric Fèvre, University of Liverpool
- Establishing a strategy to control brucellosis in dairy herds of West and Central Africa. Professor Javier Guitian, Royal Veterinary College.
- Developing the evidence base to control brucellosis in sub-Saharan Africa. Professor Daniel Haydon, University of Glasgow.
- An integrated approach for surveillance and control of zoonoses in emerging livestock systems. Professor Duncan Maskell, University of Cambridge.
- Controlling and monitoring emerging zoonoses in the poultry farming and trading system in Bangladesh. Professor Dirk Pfeiffer, Royal Veterinary College.
- Tackling Human African Trypanosomiasis on the edge of wilderness areas. Professor Stephen Torr, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
- Epidemiology and evolution of zoonotic schistosomiasis in a changing world. Professor Joanne Webster, Royal Veterinary College London.
- Controlling Bovine Tuberculosis in Ethiopia. Professor James Wood, University of Cambridge.
- Food safety hazards in emerging livestock meat pathways (HAZEL). Professor Ruth Zadoks, University of Glasgow.