Breakthrough for worming vaccine
A sheep vaccination against parasitic worms has offered hope for a sustainable control strategy that is not reliant on drugs.
The results of trials by the Moredun Institute have been published in leading scientific journal Vaccine.
The report credits the vaccine as the most successful attempt yet to prevent and control worms in animals using a laboratory-produced vaccine.
Despite intensive research, past attempts at developing vaccines against parasitic worms have been unsuccessful.
In developing the new vaccine, Moredun scientists identified a number of key proteins produced by the worm, some of which allow it to escape the immune response, and therefore survive and multiply within the animal.
The research team found that by using these proteins to immunise sheep, the numbers of adult worms and eggs shed into the environment by vaccinated animals was significantly reduced.
Dr Alasdair Nisbet, head of the research team at Moredun, said: “Currently, these pathogens are controlled using drugs. However, multi-drug resistant isolates are being reported with such frequency that the development of a vaccine is now a research priority”.
Click here to view the report published by Vaccine.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
