Objective
Tick-borne diseases (TBD) are responsible for major depressions in livestock production and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. The aim of this Coordination Action (CA) is to support a research program on tick-borne diseases jointly executed by a consortium of 45 institutions in 30 different countries. The CA will focus on tick-host-pathogen interactions to identify concrete means of control that reduce the prevalence of TBD in (sub)tropical countries. The project will generate a clu ster of integrated databases for ticks, hosts and pathogens, crucial for correct identification of ticks and precise differential diagnosis of pathogens. The CA will function as a forum to discuss, evaluate and recommend changes regarding biosystematics and molecular phylogeny of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Integrated molecular diagnostic test kits will be distributed to provide research tools for comparative epidemiological studies on tick-borne pathogens. Prevalence data on ticks and tick-borne pa thogens will be linked to remotely sensed eco-climatic data to create predictive maps for geographical distribution of tropical ticks and TBD in the target regions. Genomics and proteomics data for ticks and tick-borne pathogens will be exploited to desi gn novel integrated vaccine strategies targeting ticks and pathogens to reduce dependency on chemical tick control. The CA wil act as a focal point for setting up consortia on novel genomics and sequencing projects particularly for ticks. Differential ge ne expression studies will be facilitated using sequences from ticks, hosts and pathogens to provide insight into the three-way interactions of genes within the tick-host-pathogen triangle. All information generated by the CA project will be disseminate d through ICTTD seminars, special publications and through printed and electronic versions of a Newsletter on ticks and tick-borne diseases of livestock in the (sub)tropics.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological morphologycomparative morphology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccines
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandry
Keywords
Call for proposal
FP6-2002-INCO-DEV-1
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Funding Scheme
NoE - Network of ExcellenceCoordinator
Participants (42)
LANZHOU, GANSU
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SEBETA
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ALBACETE
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