An Australian company is developing a salmonella vaccine aimed at bringing about a major improvement in cattle productivity.
HerdVac Pty Ltd, a University of Queensland spin-off company, recently demonstrated that its vaccine will provide 100 per cent protection from Salmonella dublin in calves.
HerdVac Director, Dr Warren Henry, said Salmonella dublin outbreaks in dairy herds caused cows to abort, and scouring in calves.
“Salmonella is a substantial problem for the Australian dairy industry, significantly reducing productivity,” said Dr Henry.
“We’re incredibly happy with the results of our vaccine trial and are optimistic that we’ve developed an effective product for controlling the Salmonella dublin strain,” he said.
“Our next step in the development program is to determine if the vaccine will provide cross protection against other important salmonella strains.”
HerdVac plans to trial its vaccine’s ability to protect against another significant strain of salmonella –Salmonella typhimurium – and was recently awarded $232,100 in funding from the Australian Government’s Biotechnology Innovation Fund (BIF) to carry out the trials.
If shown to offer protection against both salmonella strains, HerdVac will undertake registration trials for approval to market the vaccine in Australia and the United States.
In particular, the company is keen to access the lucrative US beef industry, which suffers financial losses from Salmonella typhimurium.
Salmonella typhimurium causes food poisoning in humans and can be transferred to the plate from infected cattle.
“In the United States, the intensive feedlot production of beef creates a favourable environment for outbreaks of Salmonella typhimurium,” said Dr Henry.
“The infection can go undetected in the cattle and the salmonella organism can contaminate the carcass in the abattoir.”
HerdVac’s salmonella vaccine was developed by The University of Queensland’s Dr Tetsuo Mizuno and is being commercialised by UQ’s technology transfer company, UniQuest Pty Ltd.
For more information, contact Julia Renaud, Corporate Development Manager, UniQuest, phone (07) 3365 4037 or 0438 436 179 (mobile), email j.renaud@uniquest.com.au; or Dr Tetsuo Mizuno, phone (07) 3365 2879, 0415 083 766 (mobile), email t.mizuno@uq.edu.au
