Breakthrough as NARO develops anti-tick vaccine

Scientists at the National Agriculture Research Organization-NARO have made a breakthrough in developing an anti-tick vaccine which is expected to give a long-lasting solution to the tick problem affecting farmers. According to NARO’s Director-General Dr Ambrose Agona, the new vaccine has been developed by a team of Ugandan scientists led by Paul Kashaija, a PhD student, with assistance from Spaniard experts headed by Prof. Jose Dela Founte. Dr Agona says the developed vaccines will tackle three tick species including brown ear tick, bont tick and blue tick, all common in East and Central Africa, which spread diseases like; East Coast Fever, anaplasmosis and Babesiosis sometimes known as Redwater. A 2016 study conducted by the United States National Institute of Health ranked Uganda among the countries hit hardest by ticks. The ticks are the leading disease vectors in Africa, contributing 30 percent calf deaths and accounting for nearly 90 percent of disease control costs...