India and UK Collaborate on Animal Health

Sir Mark Walport, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, has announced major funding to protect livestock, during a recent visit to India. The research projects aim to tackle major livestock diseases which threaten food security in the UK and globally.

£6.5M has been awarded by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), with matched funding from India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT), for collaborative research projects between universities and research institutes in both countries. It is the first international call on animal health for DBT and covers many important livestock species.

Science Minister David Willetts said: "In the face of a rapidly growing global population, it is vital that we work together to find innovative solutions to animal diseases and global food security. This significant £13M investment is ensuring this important work can take place and supports the Government's wider Agri-Tech strategy. This is helping UK businesses, including farmers, make the best use of new technologies and techniques to meet the needs of consumers and food producers worldwide, as well as contributing to economic growth."

Professor Jackie Hunter, BBSRC Chief Executive said: "Livestock health is a huge global problem, impacting on the economy and food security. These projects will enable collaboration and shared knowledge in a bid to create novel control measures and technologies to combat infectious diseases that devastate farms in the UK and India."

The projects include: research towards TB control in cattle; understanding the different responses to avian Influenza viruses; studying tick-borne disease; creating biosensors for infectious reproductive diseases of cattle; assisting a global alliance against the goat plague 'Peste des Petits Ruminants'; finding an effective vaccination programme for the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in India, and understanding why some animals have disease immunity.