The main objectives are as follows:
To provide suitable sensitive and specific diagnostic tools in order to assess control of human, porcine and bovine cysticercosis via diagnosis and drug treatment in selected ecological zones. Of particular importance will be the detection of neurocysticercosis in man.
Selected recombinant antigens will be assayed as potential vaccine candidates.
Expected Outcome

Taenia saginata and Taenia solium are responsible for public health problems in addition to creating financial losses to cattle and pig producers in endemic areas. This project is directed towards the improvement of the available methods for control through improved diagnosis and immunoprophylaxis. The project is a second phase to a two year INCO-DC STD-3 project, it will further develop and apply the technology and reagents developed in Phase 1 and those developed in this project to epidemiological and vaccination trials in a range of endemic countries and introduce work on the closely related T. saginata. It is possible to work on both species since they are so closely related that they contain many cross-reactive determinants and can be regarded as reciprocal models.
* To transfer established diagnostic procedures from Europe to participating developing countries.
* To apply existing diagnostic tools to epidemiological monitoring and where appropriate control studies in participating developing countries.
* To clone, express and evaluate potentially diagnostic and protective antigens from oncospheres and immature metacestodes.
* To establish panels of defined sera for primary screening and evaluation of potentially useful recombinant antigens, both diagnostic and protective.
* To develop recombinant parasite antigen based detection assays.
* To carry out vaccine trials in pigs and cattle using potentially protective recombinant antigens.