Large programme of activity
continues as new contracts safeguard research in the UK
The Institute for Animal Health
(IAH) last year succeeded in winning research grants for almost £12.5m
covering 41 new projects. Details of the Institute’s funding and research
activities are presented in its Annual Report for 2000 and emphasises the
Institute’s continued standing as an international centre of expertise in
animal health. Much of the new funding enables the Institute to continue and
expand existing areas of its research programme. Whilst one new grant from MAFF
was for the reintroduction of work on safe and effective vaccines for classical
swine fever.
Around 75% of the
Institute’s annual income comes from competitively won short term, usually
three years, research grants. This is a clear indication that its research is
of international quality and relevant to the needs of its funders. The
remaining 25% comes as a core grant from the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
IAH activities range from strategic
underpinning science to practical outputs like vaccines and development of
diagnostic kits. In 2000 the Institute, in association with a commercial
partner, launched a "pen-side" test kit for rinderpest, which forms
an important part of the global eradication programme for this disease.
The report highlights the varied research
programme undertaken by the Institute during the year. These include major
economic diseases such as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (BSE and
scrapie), foot-and-mouth disease and mastitis, as well as more exotic diseases
like canine distemper virus in seals.
In his overview to the Annual Report, the
Institute’s Director, Prof. Chris Bostock said: "The appearance of
new diseases and the reappearance of old diseases, sometimes in different
guises, is a key lesson of which we need to keep reminding ourselves and one
that my predecessors and I have often commented on in this report. The BSE
epidemic has provided a stark reminder of the need to maintain a wide diversity
of expertise in the diseases of man and animals to enable quick and effective
responses to emerging problems."
The importance of this comment has been
emphasised this year, following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the
UK after a period of 30 years. The Institute’s expertise in this area has
been critical in the diagnosis, monitoring and control of the disease.
Copies of the Annual Report can be obtained
from the: The Library, IAH, Compton Laboratory on 01635 578411
Website:
http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk
The Institute for Animal Health is an
international centre for research into infectious diseases of farm animals. Its
headquarters are in Compton, Berkshire, with Laboratories in Compton,
Pirbright, Surrey and Edinburgh. The IAH is chiefly Government funded through
the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, formerly MAFF), with
sponsorship also raised through independent collaborations. Its aims are to:
improve knowledge of animal disease; develop disease control methods; advance
animal welfare; and improve food safety, with an emphasis on infections that
may transmit from animals to man. Further information can be found on
http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk
 |
