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Funding to improve poultry vaccines
Chicken
Chicken is the UK's most consumed meat.
Roslin Institute granted over five million pounds

Over five million pounds of funding has been granted to the Roslin Institute to design and improve vaccines for poultry.

Granted by the BBSRC, the £5.7m will be used to develop strategies to reduce infections in farmed animals, control food-borne diseases and minimise antibiotic use in the food chain.

The award is one of three recently funded grants thorough BBSRC's Strategic Longer and larger (sLoLa) scheme, which gives world-leading research teams five years of funding and resources to address major challenges.

Professor Mark Stevens, director of research at The Roslin Institute said: “We are delighted to partner with BBSRC and leading laboratories to tackle important poultry and foodborne diseases. Taken together with BBSRC strategic investment in the National Avian Research Facility here at The Roslin Institute the project will greatly help us to address the global challenge of improving food supply and safety.”

Chicken is the UK's most consumed meat and the most popular animal-based food in the world. However, poultry are key reservoirs of food borne pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobactor and their productivity and welfare are constrained be endemic diseases caused by E.coli and clostridia.

The Roslin Institute say that this project aims to develop and refine vaccine to protect poultry flocks against Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Clostridium infection.

The grant will also enable research to develop glycoengineering technology to produce a new generation of inexpensive veterinary vaccines.

The principal investigator of the project Brendan Wren, Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "Developing effective, inexpensive vaccines for livestock has multiple advantages, not just in protecting animals from disease, but also in reducing infections in humans and antibiotics in the food chain that are often used in rearing livestock. “

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Birmingham Dogs Home makes urgent appeal

News Story 1
 Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.

The rescue centre has seen a dramatic increase in dogs coming into its care, and is currently caring for over 200 dogs. With rising costs and dropping temperatures, the charity is calling for urgent support.

It costs the charity £6,000 per day to continue its work.

Fi Harrison, head of fundraising and communications, said: "It's heart-breaking for our team to see the conditions some dogs arrive in. We really are their last chance and hope of survival."

More information about the appeal can be found here. 

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News Shorts
Avian flu confirmed at premises in Cornwall

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in commercial poultry at a premises near Rosudgeon, Cornwall.

All poultry on the infected site will be humanely culled, and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. Poultry and other captive birds in the 3km protection zone must be housed.

The case is the second avian flu case confirmed in commercial poultry this month. The H5N5 strain was detected in a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, in early November. Before then, the disease had not been confirmed in captive birds in England since February.

The UK chief veterinary officer has urged bird keepers to remain alert and practise robust biosecurity.

A map of the disease control zones can be found here.