Antibody reagents are fundamental tools used for the study of immunology, infectious diseases, comparative biology, and translational medicine, contributing to many major therapeutic breakthroughs over the last few decades. These advances have been made possible due to the extensive availability of high quality, reliable, and specific antibodies. Despite the advances in human research, the same progress has not been made in the veterinary field. This is due to the lack of availability of antibodies directed at veterinary antigens used in research with a limited range and few fluorescent detection options for antibody conjugation. To accelerate and improve research and to better understand animal immune responses for example to help in the development of vaccines, academic and biopharma researchers need access to a large portfolio of well-characterised, specific, and reproducible antibodies.
Understanding Zoonotic Diseases Benefits Both Human and Animal Health
Veterinary research is essential to understanding animal disease pathobiology and to facilitate the development of diagnostic tests and therapeutics. These are not only important for improving animal health and welfare, but also have important implications on food security, public health, the global economy, and emerging zoonotic diseases – infectious diseases which originate in animals and are transmittable to humans.
The study of zoonotic diseases is an area of veterinary research that has gained a lot of attention in recent years, due to the outbreaks in both animals and humans. Zoonotic diseases, which are estimated to cause around one billion cases of illness and millions of deaths each year in humans, are caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, or fungi, and spread between vertebrate animals and humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the emergence of zoonotic diseases in the region is a growing public health concern, occurring in 18 of the 22 countries in the region within the last twenty years, with often severe outbreaks and high fatalities. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), caused by MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), is an example of a zoonotic disease that has recently emerged in the region. This disease can spread to humans through contact with infected camels, demonstrating how unpredictable such infections can be due to their animal origin.
Following the recent COVID-19 global pandemic, scientific evidence has pointed at the likelihood that the disease originated from animals. Similarly, Ebola virus disease (EVD), a severe contagious disease that affects humans as well as non-human primates, also has strong evidence to support its animal origin. Both diseases have demonstrated catastrophic effects on human health, with EVD also posing a threat to some animals including wild antelopes.
Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is another well-known example of the devastating effects of zoonotic disease outbreaks. By affecting large animal populations, not just birds, it can severely threaten biodiversity, reduce food supply, and increase the risk of human infection. Where outbreaks occur in domestic birds, it can have devastating consequences for the whole flock, including healthy birds, and economic losses for farmers, due to the culling of all poultry in line with policies to contain the spread of the disease. Whilst human-to-human infection is low and symptoms are often mild, cases of human infection with more severe symptoms have been reported, leading to severe respiratory complications.
Outbreaks of avian influenza continue to be a global public health concern. Consequently, public health authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, monitor cases of avian influenza in animals and humans with the aim of reducing the risk of spread. This also helps scientists to predict future disease events and develop vaccines against emerging strains of the virus.
Within the last three decades alone, more than 30 new human pathogens have been detected, 75% of which originated in animals. The devastating impact of certain zoonotic diseases on human and animal health in recent years together with the increasing emergence of new pathogens has been recognised by the WHO, which initiated its ‘One Health Initiative’ in July 2021 with the aim of optimising the health of people, animals, and ecosystems, and seeking to address the challenges raised by zoonotic diseases.
