GRANT CONTRACT FOR A DECENTRALISED PROGRAMME EUROPEAN COMMISSION EXTERNAL AID PACE CBPP RESEARCH PROGRAMME

This research programme uses funds from the PACE Programme to improve current vaccinesand lay the ground work for development of novel vaccines and diagnostics assays to controlcontagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), a fataldisease that limits the cattle industry inmost of Africa. The existing control methods, based on restriction of cattle movement andslaughter, are not practical due to cost and cultural practices. The available live attenuatedvaccines have a limited duration of immunity and low efficacy. Similarly, diagnostic assaysdetect antibodies only in the early stages of infection. The proposal will focus on improvingthe existing vaccines, defining the protective immune mechanisms and to use this informationto identify candidate genes for development novel control technologies and the validation ofavailable diagnostic tools.