A $150,000 grant has been awarded to researchers at Western Australia’s Harry Butler Institute’s Centre for Biosecurity and One Health at Murdoch University, to better understand the movement and spread of tick-associated cattle diseases.
A detrimental threat to cattle, bovine anaemia due to (BATOG) disease is caused by a blood parasite in the Theileria orientalis group and is transmitted by bush ticks (Haemaphysalis longicornis) after they attach themselves to cattle and destroy the animals’ red blood cells.
Charlotte Oskram, a senior lecturer at MU, and a world-leading tick researcher said the disease had huge implications for the welfare of animals, as well as devastating outcomes for cattle industries around the globe.
“Severe cases result in lethargy, lack of appetite, weakness and on occasion even death. Ticks, and the bugs they pass onto cattle, are a major issue that can lead to reduced fertility, loss of milk production, and result in devastating consequences for the cattle industry overall,” she said.
Although BATOG has been present in WA since 1983 it has historically been non-threatening but there are indications a more pathogenic form of BATOG is now present, and Oskram said there are concerns climate change may favour the spread of both tick and BATOG disease.
“There’s concern the changing climate will lead to an expansion of tick populations that are carrying the blood parasite which may lead to disease outbreaks. This is especially concerning as higher temperatures and increased summer rainfall lead to favourable environmental conditions for ticks to thrive,” she said.
The funding will be used to develop a questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of stakeholders within the cattle industry, and to enable sustainable and effective prevention and control measures to be developed. In addition to creating an industry practice framework for stakeholders, a baseline number for tracking future change in the distribution of ticks will also be established. The project, which commenced in July, will also enable scientists to develop efficient diagnostic technology to provide farmers insight into the bacterial and blood-borne parasites on or near their farm.
“Through new diagnostic technologies and tick surveillance, we hope to better control the spread of cattle disease in WA as well as stop other tick-borne diseases entering the country,” Oskram said.
The grant was awarded by WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Anne Layton-Bennett