ARS | Publication request: A CURRENT PERSPECTIVE ON AVAILABILITY OF TOOLS, RESOURCES AND NETWORKS FOR VETERINARY IMMUNOLOGY

Submitted to: Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: March 13, 2008
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Development of reagents for confirming immune responses in veterinary species is an important goal for animal health and vaccine researchers. Exact confirmation of disease pathogenesis and vaccine responses helps researchers develop improved treatments, vaccines and biotherapeutics. This review highlights developments to date for international efforts to develop immune tools and reagents. It summarizes the current and past international toolkit initiatives and lists the active websites that provide access to information on reagents. It highlights efforts for cattle, swine, sheep, poultry and fish. The review indicates the cooperation at the international level which is necessary for continued development of these crucial tools for animal health research.

Technical Abstract: There are many diseases of fish, livestock and companion animals that impact negatively on animal health, welfare and productivity and for which there are no effective vaccines. The development of new vaccines is reliant on the availability of well-characterised immunological tools and reagents to understand host-pathogen interactions and identify protective immune responses. Veterinary immunology has always lagged behind mouse and human immunology in terms of development and availability of tools and reagents. However, several initiatives are underway to address this. The Veterinary Immunology Committee (VIC) Toolkit was initiated six years ago at the 6th International Veterinary Immunology Symposium (IVIS) in Uppsala and in the intervening period there have been several notable developments that have advanced reagent development and information exchange. This review will discuss advances in veterinary reagent development, networks, databases and commercial availability with particular reference to the second VIC Toolkit workshop held at the 8th IVIS in Ouro Preto, Brazil on the 15th August 2007.