Development and application of vaccines against Newcastle disease for village poultry

Transcription

1 A. SUMMARY 1. Title Development and application of vaccines against Newcastle disease for village poultry 2. Duration 1984 to present. 3. Objectives To develop heat-resistant vaccines suitable for providing immunity to Newcastle disease in village chicken populations in Asia (and worldwide). 4. Activities Newcastle is the world s most feared disease in chickens. Outbreaks can devastate village chicken populations in developing countries. Research on developing heat stable vaccine against Newcastle disease that would be sufficiently thermostable for use in tropical villages without the use of refrigeration began in 1984 with a joint research project led by Professor Peter Spradbrow of the University of Queensland, and Professor Latif Ibrahim of Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM). The need to use a cold chain involving refrigeration made use of existing Newcastle disease vaccines infeasible in the village situation. This work led to the development of a suitable thermostable vaccine. Further collaboration between Professor Spradbrow, researchers in most countries in Southeast Asia, and also Sri Lanka, as well as with several African countries, FAO and also NGOs has yielded vaccines and local production methods that have ensured that the vaccines can be available at a low price. In Asia, application has been particularly successful in Malaysia and Vietnam, where by 1997 benefits estimated at $A2.5 million and $A1.5 million had already been achieved. The research has consisted of five large and small projects undertaken since 1984, which undertook the following activities: successful development of a thermostable vaccine for use in Malaysian villages extension of vaccine trials to other Asian countries development of a new non-commercialised seed vaccine for use in developing countries for making vaccine locally investigation of the use of thermostable vaccines for controlling Newcastle disease in Mozambique. 5. AreaNatural resource management and Agro-ecology 6. Region Asia-Pacific

2 B. STAKEHOLDERS 1. Beneficiaries Newcastle disease occurs almost universally across Asia (and also Africa and South America). The beneficiaries from the development of an effective vaccine against Newcastle disease suitable for village use are potentially almost all villagers and small scale farmers in the developing world, with the exception of the islands of the Pacific where Newcastle disease does not occur. In most developing countries Newcastle disease sweeps through villages every year, often destroying all chickens. Controlling the disease opens up the possibility of enabling chickens to supply a stable source of animal protein for villagers, and also providing them with a source of income. Commercial chicken production operations will also benefit from control of the disease among village chickens since village chickens are often sources of infection of commercial operations. 2. Research Partners University of Queensland, Australia Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM), now Universiti Putra Malaysia Department of Livestock Development, Thailand Bureau of Animal Industry, Philippines Department of Animal Health, Vietnam Navetco, Vietnam National Veterinary Research Institute, Mozambique 3. Donors and budget In Asia ACIAR has been the major donor in the collaboration on research and testing of vaccines against Newcastle disease. Between 1984 and 1995 ACIAR, with some support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), participated in two large and two small projects in Asia, which mainly focused on Southeast Asia. All countries involved have contributed to the costs of the research in addition to the costs borne by ACIAR. Total research costs between 1983 and 1995 amounted to $A3.1 million (at 1996 Australian dollar values), which equates to approximately US$2 million. ACIAR has also participated in a small project with Mozambique to investigate use of thermostable vaccines there. C. PROJECT RESULTS AND IMPACT 1. Main results The initial research project was highly successful in developing a heat-resistant vaccine (HRV4) that could be readily used in the field by coating it on to chicken feed. The vaccine was successfully adopted by pilot village communities in Malaysia villages. Uptake elsewhere was limited by the cost to villagers, and logistical problems with transporting and storing large amounts of vaccine-coated grain. The vaccine was adopted by the Malaysian Government as the vaccine for a national Newcastle disease control strategy. The vaccine was commercialised by an Australian company in Australia and Malaysia, and continues to be manufactured in both countries.

3 A further research project successfully extended trials to other countries. Overall the research showed that thermostable vaccines can be locally produced and can protect chickens in village environments when administered as oral vaccine on coated chicken feed or applied to drinking water. Subsequent trial work demonstrated that the HRV4 vaccine does provide a high degree of protection under village conditions, but the degree of protection depends on the type of feed carrier used. Commercialisation of the HRV4 vaccine led to limitations on its use by poor rural villagers. A further small project successfully developed a new strain of avirulent heat stable Newcastle disease virus (I 2 ) suitable for use in production of vaccine for village flocks. This new vaccine has not been commercialised. Instead, sufficiently large quantities of I 2 master seed vaccine have been produced in Queensland to enable small quantities to be sent free of charge to laboratories in developing countries interested in developing working seed for local production. I 2 seed is being produced in Vietnam and Mozambique. I 2 is more effective when administered by eye drop. Dissemination of the results Demonstration trials showing the effectiveness of the vaccines that were built into the projects raised the interest of farmers and livestock health authorities within partner countries to apply the vaccines in villages. Application of the heat stable vaccines within Southeast Asian countries has been carried out incountry through the national livestock health systems. Application has been most successful in Malaysia, where the HRV4 vaccine has been manufactured since 1990 and is fully commercialised. Initial programs to control Newcastle in complete States were coordinated through the Department of Veterinary Services in Malaysia. While the disease cannot yet be deemed to be fully eradicated from Malaysia, there have been no reports of major outbreaks since the early 1990s. ACIAR-sponsored international workshops have also been held to inform veterinary scientists in other countries about the results and benefits of the research on Newcastle disease vaccines, and the proceedings have been published along with articles in various media. Training workshops for senior policy administrators and for laboratory and field livestock officers in Asia and Africa, which were initiated by ACIAR and taken up by FAO, the World Bank and AusAID, have disseminated knowledge about the potential value of the thermostable vaccines. Impacts Development of the heat stable vaccine for village use has provided a means of ensuring a survival rate of between 60 and 80%, depending on how the vaccine is administered. Consequently, for the first time the possibility of improving village poultry production systems has opened up. No major outbreak of Newcastle disease has occurred in Malaysia since the early 1990s when widespread adoption of the HRV4 vaccine began, and semi intensive village systems have become increasingly common. A recent independent economic impact assessment has estimated returns to Malaysia from the research already top $A2.4 million. Use of the I 2 vaccine in Vietnam has been very successful, with the vaccine being produced locally by Navetco and distributed nationally. The same economic impact assessment concluded that development of the more recent I 2 vaccine had already yielded a benefit of about $A1.5 million only one year after manufacture in Vietnam had commenced.

4 D. PARTNERSHIP 1. Respective roles of the different stakeholders and coordination mechanisms for: Project Design ACIAR does not undertake research itself. It commissions research groups in Australian institutions to carry out agricultural research projects in partnership with their counterparts in developing countries. Projects are designed in consultation with ACIAR by Australian and their developing country partner proponents following guidelines laid down by ACIAR. It welcomes ideas for new projects. Suggestions may come from individuals, research institutions or government organisations in developing countries or Australia. Others arise from ACIAR-sponsored workshops or from high-level consultations that are held on a three-yearly cycle with our major partner countries. All successful proposals must cover topics ranking highly among the research priorities of the developing country involved, and must be endorsed by the national authorities before they can be considered for approval by the ACIAR Board of Management. Preparation of projects involves extensive consultation between interested parties in both Australia and potential partner countries. Preliminary projects emerging from these consultations are presented to the ACIAR Board of Management for approval to proceed to the detailed development of project proposals. Fully developed proposals are assessed by ACIAR staff and submitted for peer review to independent expert referees before the ACIAR Board of Management considers the final proposal. In the case of the string of research projects on developing thermostable vaccines against Newcastle disease, the original idea resulted from collaboration between Professor Peter Spradbrow at the University of Queensland and Professor Latif Ibrahim at the then Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (now Universiti Putra Malaysia) during the early 1980s, shortly before ACIAR was established.

5 Project implementation The projects are implemented through contractual arrangements with the Australian commissioned organisation. The Australian project leader coordinates all research both within his own institution and in collaborating institutions in developing countries and in Australia, and has responsibility for ensuring that the research is carried out as agreed with ACIAR. The University of Queensland has been the commissioned organisation for all of the ACIAR Newcastle disease projects, and Professor Peter Spradbrow the project leader. Project management Management of all projects on developing Newcastle disease vaccines has been carried out by the University of Queensland under the leadership of Professor Peter Spradbrow. ACIAR funds are provided direct to the commissioned organisation, which then disburses agreed amounts to the collaborating organisations in partner countries and Australia. The commissioned organisation receives the projects as two tranches each year, and these funds must be accounted for to ACIAR annually. The project leader must ensure that an annual report on progress is sent to ACIAR each year, and the final report must cover progress achieved throughout the length of the project. Projects are reviewed by an independent review panel during the latter part of their final year. This review panel recommends on whether the project has achieved its aims, and on whether the research and development should continue through further projects. Results dissemination ACIAR s mandate requires it to commission research and development projects that allow demonstration of new technologies that have been developed. Extension of research results is outside its mandate and is the responsibility of the partner countries and institutions within projects. Extension projects may also be commissioned by AusAID, Australia s official development assistance agency, and design of a project on extension of the use of thermostable Newcastle disease vaccines in SADC countries in southern Africa is under consideration. Because of this limitation in its mandate ACIAR tries to ensure that all its projects identify who will be the likely users of any results, and also that they include utilisation plans that show how the results should be provided to users. ACIAR s partnership mode by which it commissions research partnerships between Australian and counterpart researchers and institutions ensure that the developing countries have ownership of the results and a stake in their application. 2. Added value of the partnership The thermostable V4 and I 2 vaccines could not have been developed without the partnership of the universities in Australia and Malaysia. While Australia had benign strains of Newcastle disease virus circulating within its chicken populations, it did not suffer from Newcastle disease outbreaks. So it would not have been possible to test the vaccine or study the best mechanisms for its delivery in village situations without the Malaysia collaboration. Once the initial effectiveness of the vaccines had been proven in Malaysia partnerships with researchers in other Asian countries enabled adaptive research to be done both on the efficacy of the vaccine itself under different circumstances, and on development of appropriate delivery mechanisms for different cultures in Asia.

6 Involving the national veterinary health authorities early in the development of the vaccines ensured that they were well informed with progress in developing the vaccines, and that they had a stake in their application. Ensuring local manufacture of the vaccines in Malaysia and Vietnam has ensured the availability of good quality supplies of the vaccines. E. CONCLUSION Next steps Several projects and trials funded by ACIAR, FAO, the World Bank and other donors have already been completed, and use of both HRV4 and I 2 vaccines continues. An informal partnership continues between Professor Spradbrow (Australia), Dr Aini Ideris (Malaysia) and Dr Robyn Alders (Mozambique). In Asia trials continue in Lao PDR with ACIAR funding, and in Cambodia and Myanmar with FAO funding. Trials also continue in the African countries of Malawi and Tanzania with funding from DANIDA, and Gambia and Ghana with World Bank funding. AusAID is giving consideration to funding a project on using thermostable vaccines to control Newcastle disease in village chickens in SADC countries. The vaccines have now been adopted by a number of governments in Asia, which ensures application. Lessons learned Well developed extension packages are essential if application is to be successful. Mutual trust among researchers and government authorities in partner countries is essential. The leadership of the Malaysian government in adopting the HRV4 vaccine gave the approach credibility in other countries in Asia. An understanding of the social implications and situation at village level made it possible to develop an appropriate technology that could have a quick and large impact in villages that was also very beneficial to women and children. The training workshops for senior policy administrators and for laboratory and field livestock officers, which were initiated by ACIAR and then taken up by FAO, the World Bank and AusAID, have provided a very important and effective mechanism for promoting adoption of the thermostable vaccines for Newcastle disease control. For further information on improving rural poultry production and use of thermostable vaccines for controlling Newcastle disease in village chickens see