RESEARCH ON HEMOPROTOZOAL DISEASE OF FOOD PRODUCING LIVESTOCK

PROJECT WAS EXTENDED TO 9/30/78 WITH $30,000 ADDITIONAL FUNDING. MAJOR RESEARCH EFFORT WAS DIRECTED TOWARD ANAPLASMOSIS, BABESIASIS, TRYPANOSOMIASIS, AND THEILERIOSIS. APPLIED RESEARCH WAS EMPHASIZED, STRESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICAL DIAGNOSTIC SEROLOGIC TESTS. THE BULK OF THE WORK ON ANAPLASMOSIS HAS BEEN IN VACCINATION AND CHEMOTHERAPY. LABORATORY AND FIELD TRIALS OF THE ATTENUATED ANAPLASMA ORGANISM DEVELOPED AT THE UNIV OF ILLINOIS DEVELOPED A MILD PREMUNIZING INFECTION IN ANIMALS WHICH WERE THEN COMPLETELY RESISTANT TO NEEDLE CHALLENGE. KILLED VACCINE AND OTHER COMPOUNDS WERE TESTED AND FOUND TO BE INADEQUATE. CONCERNING BABESIA, CHEMOTHERAPY EXPERIMENTS HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. GANSEG HAS BEEN FOUND HIGHLY EFFECTIVE, AND A NEW DRUG, IMIDOCARB DIPROPIONATE, HAS ALSO BEEN TESTED AND FOUND TO BE HIGHLY THERAPEUTIC. AN INDIRECT FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY TEST FOR TRYPANOSOMA VIVAX WAS DEVELOPED FOR A SURVEY INVOLVING OVER 2,000 CATTLE. EFFORTS TO TRANSMIT THEILERIA WITH AMBLYOMMA AMERICANUM AND A. CAJENNENSE BY TRANSTADIAL MEANS WERE UNSUCCESSFUL. APPENDIX I CONTAINS A BIBLIOGRAPHY (INCLUDING ABSTRACTS) OF 138 REPORTS AND STUDIES DEALING WITH HEMOPROTOZOAL DISEASE, ANAPLASMOSIS, THEILERIOSIS, BABESIASIS AND TRYPANOSOMIASIS.