Page 27 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

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Gap in knowledge about zoonotic diseases which could spread to humans
A study co-authored by Dr Anke Wiethoelter and Dr Siobhan Mor from the University of Sydney’s Faculty
of Veterinary Science and Marie Bashir Institute, Dr Daniel Beltrán- Alcrudo from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and Professor Richard Kock from the RVC, has identi ed a huge gap in knowledge about animal diseases which could spread to humans.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), this study has found that just ten diseases account for around 50% of
all published knowledge on diseases at the wildlife-livestock interface. It is based on an analysis of almost 16,000 publications spanning the last century.
The researchers argue that more studies are needed which focus on this wildlife-livestock interface to assess risks and improve responses to disease epidemics in animals and
humans particularly after recent virus outbreaks of wildlife origin, such as Hendra virus in Australia, Ebola virus in West Africa, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus in the Arabian Peninsula.
Dr Siobhan Mor explains, “Often we don’t prioritise animal health until it impacts on human health, meaning we miss the opportunity to manage diseases at the source”.
The results of the study show that the majority of published research focuses on diseases that are shared between humans and animals, meaning that less is known about diseases that affect only animals, and those that could potentially be a precursor to infectious diseases in humans.
The study also revealed that publication
of research is strongly linked to media coverage and funding for certain diseases. Avian in uenza and bovine tuberculosis
for example, were found to have a strong association between the above.
Dr Mor commented; “Public interest comes and goes, but without sustained investments, research on this important interface suffers”.
One Health - Oncology at the RVC
Here at the RVC, researchers study cancers in veterinary patients that can also be used as models for human cancer, working alongside clinical scientists and pathologists at other veterinary and medical schools.
The RVC Comparative Physiology and Medicine Research Programme investigates diseases suffered by domestic pets and other animals that also occur in humans. The results of these projects can be used to develop treatments for animals and humans.
The Immune Regulation and Cancer group
seeks to understand regulatory mechanisms that maintain immune tolerance and how failure of these mechanisms lead to autoimmune, in ammatory and neoplastic disease. A key focus is regulatory T cell (Treg) biology.
Professor Oliver Garden leads the Oncology Special Interest Group at the RVC, and has recently been awarded a grant by Petplan Charitable Trust to work on immune privilege in canine B cell lymphoma (BCL).
Oliver explains: “Cancer of the lymph nodes is a leading cause of death in dogs. We propose to extend our previous work on canine BCL by de ning suppressive cells in the cancerous lymph nodes that block the immune system’s efforts to inhibit or kill the cancer. Knowledge of the impact of these cells on the course of the cancer will not only
help us to predict outcome in individual cases, but will also provide new targets for future treatments and be applicable to human medicine.”