The University of Adelaide has been awarded a $390,000 Linkage Grant by the Australian Research Council to improve the effectiveness of Salmonella Typhimurium vaccine in poultry, to lower the risk of food-borne pathogens, and ultimately reduce the number of cases of human salmonella infection.
The project, led by the university's Associate Professor Kapil Chousalkar, will use cutting edge technologies to study the host immune response from Salmonella Typhimurium vaccines, in particular Bioproperties' Vaxsafe ST, to reduce the risk of bacteria developing in poultry.
"In Australia, the consumption of contaminated eggs and egg products are often associated with human Salmonellosis," Mr Chousalkar said.
"Salmonella infection is a serious public health concern, its effects on humans include headache, fever, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, and can require hospitalisation," he said.
"This university has been working together with national, state regulatory authorities and the poultry industry over several years on a range of intervention strategies to reduce the presence of Salmonella on farms."
The team working on this project also includes the university's Dr Andrea McWhorter, scientists from RMIT and industry partners, Bioproperties Pty Ltd and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The ARC's Linkage Program promotes national and international research partnerships between researchers and business, industry, community organisations and other publicly funded research agencies.
RELATED READING: Word Animal Protection target KFC over The Better Chicken Commitment
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Click here to sign up to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
