Moredun launches Barbervax~R -a vaccine for Barber's Pole Worm

摘要

Scientists at Moredun, led by Dr David Smith, have successfully developed the first vaccine for the Barber's Pole Worm (Haemonchus contortus), the most important roundworm parasite of sheep and goats in the world.Barber's Pole Worm is a voracious blood sucker causing anaemia which can readily become fatal. Fortunately for UK farmers it prefers warmer conditions and so is only a sporadic problem, but in parts of Australia, South Africa and South America it presents a real difficulty for commercial sheep farmers, compounded by the fact that worms resistantto anthelmintic drugs are common and widespread.