Scientists from across the UK and China gathered in Surrey today at the UK-China CERAD symposium (Centre of Excellence for Research on Avian Diseases) – the first such event to be held in the UK.
The continued advance of African swine fever (ASF) through Eastern European countries has triggered concern amongst pig farmers and governing bodies. Defra has upgraded the threat to the UK from ‘very low’ to ‘low’ – meaning the risk is “rare but could occur” (EFSA terminology). This severe disease of pigs entered Europe through Georgia in 2007, and has since continued to the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe, including EU countries in the Baltic States, Poland and very recently the Czech Republic, in wild boar.
A £2,359,553 grant has been awarded by Innovate UK to The Pirbright Institute’s Dr Simon Graham to lead an international team developing an inexpensive, safe and effective vaccine to protect pigs against Nipah virus (NiV).
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