The Reproduvac project is financed by Horizon Europe, the European funding program for research and innovation. The aim of this international collaborative project, in which researchers from Wageningen University & Research are also involved, is to develop vaccines and diagnostics for endemic and zoonotic pathogens in livestock farming. This should contribute to improving animal welfare, reducing veterinary antibiotic use and protecting human health.
A total of 16 partners from 7 different countries work together in the project on solutions for animal diseases that have a major impact on livestock farming. The activities of the partnership are mainly focused on the diseases Chlamydiosis, Q fever, Brucellosis and PRRS. Wageningen University & Research is represented by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research. A total budget of approximately 6.3 million euros is available for the project in the period 2022-2027.
The Reproduvac consortium consists of scientists and representatives of commercial companies. The research will be focused on:
- Selection and development of vaccine and diagnosis of candidate antibodies.
- Exploiting relevant protein expression systems for antibody production.
- The development of vaccines based on attenuated and viral vectors.
- Designing and setting up suitable molecular and immunological diagnostic tests, including the development of tests that can distinguish infected animals from vaccinated animals.
All bacterial diseases that are addressed within the program are potentially zoonotic and have a global impact. Chlamydiosis is caused by Chlamydia abortion and is one of the most common causes of abortion in small ruminants. Coxiella burnetii causes Q fever. Brucellosis in pigs has a high zoonotic potential. The disease is receiving less attention worldwide, but threatens to resurface in Europe. PRRS is caused by viruses. This disease causes a lot of economic damage to pig farming worldwide, but it is not zoonotic.
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