ON FARM NORTHERN CATTLE Developing new tick management tools MLA‑funded research is “Our single‑dose responses were actually aiming to deliver a new, higher in cattle than the responses to a RESEARCH IN once‑per‑season‑dose conventional multi‑dose vaccine. REVIEW cattle tick vaccine “We believe when the vaccine is injected to producers. into animals, the animals get a primary PROJECT AIM Professor Tim Mahony, from the University dose and, over time, the polymer To develop a new tick vaccine of Queensland, said tick infestations costformulation starts to break down, RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS northern beef enterprises more than $160 creating a continual release process.” University of Queensland million in lost production annually, and Tim said, while each animal reacts slightly FUNDING ORGANISATIONS the development of an annual – or even differently to the vaccine, generally MLA, Queensland Government six‑monthly – vaccine could return huge levels of immunity peak at 28 days Smart Futures Research economic and animal welfare benefits. post‑injection, then drop and stabilise. Partnerships Program An additional benefit is producers After about three months, immunity falls could utilise more Bos taurus genetics further before hitting a trough around DURATION rather than having to rely on the more four months. December 2017 – March 2019 tick‑tolerant Bos indicus genotypes. KEY FINDINGS TO DATE “There was a tick vaccine brought to “If they’re still protected at this stage, the• Single‑dose cattle tick vaccine the market 30 years ago, however, the animals will be protected throughout produces strong and sustained major hurdle for extensive northern beef the 12 months as, after that, the immune immune responses in cattle. operations was that it required multiple response starts to increase again due to the way the vaccine is formulated with • The amount of antigen used in doses – two to three initially to create polymers. As it breaks down, it creates the vaccine has little effect on the an immune response and then boosters its own booster doses,” Tim said. immune responses in cattle. every three to four months,” Tim said. “While this worked well for Queensland’s What’s next? dairy industry, it was impractical for The team is now collecting the Professor Tim Mahony extensive production systems. For this protection data before moving to talking E: t.mahony@uq.edu.au project, we wanted to develop a vaccine to veterinary pharmaceutical companies that would protect animals for up to a about commercialising a vaccine. This research was designed and run year – or even six months from one dose “We’d like to see a vaccine co‑funded by under approval from the University of so they had an effective defence during the pharmaceutical industry and see it Queensland’s Production and Companion high risk periods (i.e. a warm wet season).”developed to registration,” Tim said. Animals Animal Ethics Committee. ■ Tim, collaborators from Swinburne “We see a vaccine as a key element of a University of Technology, and his team successful integrated pest management working at UQ’s Queensland Animal program, as continued use of chemicals Science Precinct, formulated a range increases the risk of pathogens of single‑dose polymer depot systems becoming tolerant to them. that were tested on sheep. “Producers do need to keep in mind Several of these delivered strong, that even if this vaccine is successfully sustained immune responses for up commercialised, it’ll need to be to a year. used with other control mechanisms, The vaccine formulation was further particularly if a herd is heavily infested.” optimised for testing inBos taurus cattle Tim said if cattle were not being sold in – because of their susceptibility to cattlethe near future, producers could treat ticks and ability to show a clear immune them to get rid of heavy tick infestations response – in controlled conditions. and then boost the animals’ immunity “We vaccinated 40 animals, divided to control future infestations with into four different groups. Each of these the vaccine. received different amounts of the BM86 “Long term, theintegrated use of multiple antigen (found to be effective in the control methods should keep lower earlier vaccine),” Tim said. levels of pathogens in check,” he said. 35