Investigating solutions for three major production limiting infectious diseases of dairy cattle: Mastitis, Digital Dermatitis and Johne's disease

牛传染病对食品安全、农民生计、国民经济、农村环境和社区构成威胁。依赖抗菌剂治疗不太可能持续;因此，更好地控制和预防奶牛传染病至关重要。 奶牛细菌性疾病、乳房炎、指皮炎和约翰氏病对奶牛场的生产有着重要的影响。通过我们的研究，我们将增加对这些传染病的了解和控制，并减少它们对加拿大乳制品行业生产力的限制作用。具体项目的重点是探索新的方法来预防，诊断和消除乳制品行业的这些限制生产的感染。拟议的研究建立在分子微生物学、细菌发病机理、疾病诊断、病原体组学和疫苗学的基础上。合并后的计划不仅会产生新的知识，而且还会产生几种有形的最终产品或控制策略，包括：约翰氏病的有效疫苗，针对乳腺炎病原体的益生菌，以及检测乳腺炎的笔侧诊断设备（生物传感器）。我们将应用一种新的遗传工具来识别牛密螺旋体的小生境和宿主，认为在指端真皮病变的发生和发展中起重要作用。拟议的项目还将阐明是什么使产色葡萄球菌，从亚临床乳腺炎中最常见的分离生物之一，作为病原体如此成功，并确定新的手段来控制它阐明细菌的目标。我们还将开发和完善上述疾病的动物模型，为预防和控制创新提供基础。 总之，我们提出了一个原创和基础研究为基础的计划，以寻找新的方法来解决乳制品行业的重要疾病。预计的解决方案将使乳制品行业更具竞争力和盈利能力，降低与抗菌素耐药性相关的风险，改善动物福利，并延长乳制品行业的社会许可证。

Infectious diseases in cattle pose threats to food safety, the livelihood of farmers, national economy, and the rural environment and communities. Reliance on treatment with antimicrobials is unlikely to be sustainable; therefore better control and prevention of infectious disease in dairy cattle is paramount. The bovine bacterial diseses, Mastitis, Digital Dermatitis and Johne's diseases have significant impacts on dairy cattle farm productivity. Through our research we will increase the understanding and improve the control of these infectious diseases and reduce the limiting effects they have on the productivity of the Canadian dairy industry. Specific projects are focused on exploring novel ways to prevent, diagnose, and eliminate these production-limiting infections from the dairy industry. The proposed research is founded on molecular microbiology, bacterial pathogenesis, disease diagnostics, pathogenomics and vaccinology. The combined program will not only generate new knowledge, but also produce several tangible end products or control strategies, including: an efficacious vaccine for Johne's disease, a probiotic against mastitis pathogens, and a pen-side diagnostic device (biosensor) to detect mastitis. We will apply a novel genetic tool to identify the niches and reservoirs of bovine Treponema spp., believed to play an important role in Digital Dermatitis lesion initiation and progression. Proposed projects will also elucidate what makes Staphylococcus chromogenes, one of the most frequently isolated organisms from subclinical mastitis, so successful as a pathogen and identify novel means to control it by elucidating bacterial targets. We will also develop and refine animal models for the above-mentioned diseases, providing a basis for innovations in prevention and control. In summary, we are proposing an original and basic research-based program to find novel ways to address important diseases plaguing the dairy industry. Projected solutions will make the dairy sector more competitive and profitable, reduce risks associated with antimicrobial resistance, improve animal welfare, and extend the social license for the dairy industry.