Two new research projects have been awarded funding to tackle some of the world's most devastating livestock and poultry viruses. The two projects, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), aim to provide novel solutions to combat Foot-and-Mouth Disease and emerging poultry viruses.

image expired

The grants have been awarded by the BBSRC; on Monday, the research council said the awards would go towards funding key research into areas of strategic importance.

The first grant announced on Monday will see £5.6 million going to protect farm animal from Foot and Mouth disease.  An outbreak of the devastating virus in 2001 led to over 10 million sheep and cattle being killed and cost the UK an estimated £8 billion.

The FMD project will be led by a number of UK universities and the Pirbright Institute. The researchers will investigate how the virus grows in, and interacts with, cells and harness the knowledge to develop a new generation of more effective vaccines and improve diagnosis. BBSRC said new developments in molecular biology have made more in-depth study of FMD possible.

Lead researcher Professor Martin Ryan of the University of St Andrews, outlined one avenue of investigation on Monday, "One approach will be to alter the virus to make new strains that can infect animals without causing disease. These weakened viruses can prompt an immune response from the infected animal, giving it protection from subsequent infection."

The researchers will also attempt to use knowledge of how the virus grows in cells to make a new type of virus that could only grow in specially designed "helper" cells, meaning the virus couldn't then grow in animals. This would make the use of existing conventional vaccines a much safer process.

Professor Ryan added, "The strength of this project arises from combining the expertise from a multi-disciplinary team and the use of state-of-the art research technologies. Success would stimulate the routine use of vaccine to control FMDV around the globe. This would reduce the global incidence of FMD with enormous economic and social value worldwide."

Tackling Poultry Viruses

£6.2 million in funding has also been made available for researchers developing rapid responses to emerging poultry viruses. The funding boost will also help to establish the next generation of poultry virologists, to work in a scientific area where the UK has traditionally been strong, BBSRC said.

The aim of the project is to increase surveillance capacity, enabling authorities to recognise emerging threats before they become threats. This includes looking at new subtypes of avian flu. Researchers at Imperial College London will lead the project, working with colleagues in other UK institutions.

Dr Michael Skinner, project leader at Imperial College London commented, "One area of the research will help us to identify infections early. We are looking for distinct signatures that appear upon infection of cells in the lab. We can use these signatures to create means of detecting new viruses, especially in elite breeder flocks, where the UK and Europe has an important global commercial presence".

He added, "The study of poultry viruses has made an important contribution to the development of the modern science of virology. We also need to understand the way viruses interact with chicken cells because isolation and diagnosis of viruses is often conducted in eggs or avian cells and some important human vaccines, including those for seasonal and pandemic influenza, are produced in them".

Tweet