Los patógenos forman parte de los ecosistemas, y las enfermedades contribuyen a la regulación natural de las poblaciones animales de igual forma que la disponibilidad de recursos o la predación. El acceso a fauna silvestre facilita el estudio de modelos naturales de infección, sin interferencias antropógenas. Su análisis permite conocer aspectos básicos de la relación patógeno-hospedador a escala individual y poblacional. Ejemplos de patógenos y hospedadores investigados en esta línea incluyen el nematodo del ciervo Elaphostrongylus cervi, la comunidad de micobacterias de los ungulados del Parque Nacional de Doñana, o los virus de influenza aviar en aves acuáticas de los humedales manchegos.

Estudios encaminados a la mejora de los protocolos de congelación del semen de distintos ungulados cinegéticos. Estudiamos los diferentes momentos y fases de la técnica de congelación, así como la mejora de la formulación de los medios de congelación. También estamos analizando los factores de variación que pueden influir sobre la resistencia al proceso de congelación en las distintas especies, prestando especial interés a los niveles de consanguinidad de los machos donantes del semen.

Una característica de la fauna silvestre es su diversidad, ubicuidad y el relativo desconocimiento existente en cuanto a su papel real en el mantenimiento de enfermedades de importancia en sanidad animal o salud pública. EL IREC, como centro referente nacional e internacional en el campo de las enfermedades compartidas, desarrolla investigación básica y aplicada en vigilancia sanitaria, tratando de combinar los esfuerzos de vigilancia activa sobre enfermedades relevantes como el Aujeszky en el jabalí o la brucelosis, con el descubrimiento de patógenos emergentes como por ejemplo el virus de la hepatitis E en el ciervo. Esta actividad se realiza en estrecha colaboración con diferentes administraciones y organismos regionales, nacionales e internacionales.

Las enfermedades transmitidas por vectores representan una situación especialmente compleja en relación con su estudio y control, ya que a las interacciones patógeno-hospedador se suman las interacciones patógeno-vector y vector-hospedador, y dado que a la ecología del hospedador se le suma la ecología del vector. Algunas enfermedades transmitidas por vectores se encuentran en expansión geográfica y han adquirido mayor importancia en los últimos años. Algunos ejemplos estudiados en SaBio incluyen la lengua azul, un orbivirus transmitido por dípteros del género Culicoides y que afecta a rumiantes domésticos y silvestres, y la Fiebre del Nilo y otros flavivirus transmitidos por mosquitos culícidos y que afectan a aves, équidos y ocasionalmente personas. Las enfermedades transmitidas por garrapatas estudiadas en esta línea incluyen las anaplasmosis, la enfermedad de Lyme o las rickettsiosis, entre otras. Esta investigación se desarrolla en colaboración con la línea de investigación en genómica funcional y proteómica.

Las micobacterias patógenas para el hombre y para los animales son organismos intracelulares de crecimiento lento pertenecientes al complejo Mycobacterium avium, como por ejemplo M. avium paratuberculosis, y al complejo Mycobacterium tuberculosis, como por ejemplo M. bovis. Algunos mamíferos silvestres, como el jabalí, el ciervo o el tejón, tienen un papel clave como reservorios silvestres de micobacterias de importancia en salud pública y sanidad animal. Nuestro grupo desarrolla investigación en epidemiología, tratando de identificar factores de riesgo, y en control de las micobacteriosis, incluyendo por ejemplo el estudio de mejoras en bioseguridad o el desarrollo de vacunas y nuevas técnicas para su administración oral en condiciones de campo. Esta investigación se desarrolla en colaboración con numerosos grupos nacionales e internacionales, y en estrecha sintonía con la línea de investigación en genómica funcional y proteómica de SaBio.

Se trata de un proyecto de la Autoridad Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria (EFSA) cuyo principal objetivo es recopilar información sobre la distribución geográfica, abundancia y estructura de poblaciones de especies silvestres seleccionadas relevantes para la ganadería y la salud humana.

Los objetivos específicos de ENETWILD son:

Recopilar datos existentes publicados o no publicados sobre la distribución geográfica y la abundancia de hospedadores de fauna silvestre seleccionados, validarlos y agregarlos de manera armonizada en una base de datos común.

Promover y coordinar la generación de nuevos datos sobre distribución y abundancia de especies silvestres seleccionadas, y modelarlas, para llenar los vacíos identificados en el objetivo-1.

Mejorar aún más la red de profesionales de la vida silvestre para apoyar las actividades de recopilación de datos requeridas en los objetivos 1 y 2:

• Unir la red existente a otros grupos / redes europeos o internacionales activos en el área de vigilancia de la población silvestre.
Promover el desarrollo y la adopción de protocolos armonizados para las evaluaciones de presencia y los recuentos de población, la estandarización de la validación del formato de datos y la evaluación de la calidad de las presentaciones de datos.
• Fortalecer la colaboración en actividades integrales de vigilancia de la vida silvestre en Europa, mejorando la red europea entre especialistas en población y salud.

Los objetivos que ENETWILD desarrollará durante los próximos años se centran específicamente en el jabalí.

Este es un proyecto financiado por el INIA y coordinado con el CERSYRA. En este proyecto se estudiarán las causas a nivel espermático de la reducción de la fertilidad en razas de ovino con alta consanguinidad. Para ello se valorarán aspectos del espermatozoide como la movilidad y la morfometría y se estudiarán la distribución de las subpoblaciones en función de estas características.

White storks are migratory and connect different habitats that can be the source and risk areas for the transmission of LPAIV into livestock. In this project we study the exposure of white storks to LPAIV and other pathogens of interest for livestock or humans such as West Nile virus. At the same time, using satellite transmitters and ring lectures from tagged storks we investigate the way storks connect different habitats and the potential effect that the infection by LPAIV or other pathogens has on their behaviour.

This project is funded by the national agricultural research institute (INIA, project reference RTA2011-0111-C03-02).

The epidemiology of TB in Doñana National Park (DNP) is spatially structured in cattle and wildlife, although neither the main determinants of this pattern are known. We aim (i) to identify the factors determining the spatio-temporal pattern of persistence and disease transmission of TB, (ii) the effect of wild boar population reduction on disease prevalence in cattle, (iii) to describe the inter and intra-specific interactions associated to TB transmission risks in cattle, and (iv) to evaluate preventive managements able to reduce direct /indirect, intra/interspecific contact rates at risk points.

Project number: AGL2010-20730-C02-01. Financed by: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Participants: UCLM - Universidad de Sevilla

The degree of interaction between domestic and wildlife determine the transmission and subsequently the sharing of pathogens. Our general objetives are (i) to describe and quantify the local patterns of contacts (connectivity among individuals) between domestic livestock and wild ungulates in an area from South Central Spain, for which we will use proximity contact data loggers, a recently developed technology able to record the contacts between and within livestock and wild ungulates. (ii) To determine the individuals or groups that present the highest risk for disease transmission within and between species. (iii) To evidence the factors (including habitat use) that determines the local pattern of contacts between livestock and wild ungulates. (iv) Recommending sanitary and husbandry practices in order to reduce disease transmission at the livestock-wildlife interface.

This research focuses on the development of new algorithms to use systems biology data for the identification of vector protective antigens. These results will be used for the development of vaccines for the control of vector infestations.

Here we propose immediate sequencing of the mite vector of scrub typhus, Leptotrombidium deliense, and additional sequencing of I. scapularis to expand genomic resources for this group. These projects will provide the anchor for additional sampling of species at increasing evolutionary distance. We also identify six members of the Ixodida (Dermacentor variabilis, Amblyomma americanum, I. pacificus, I. ricinus, I. persulcatus and Ornithodorus turicata) that are considered high priority sequencing targets by the tick and mite research communities.

Objetivo: se pretende el desarrollo de nuevas metodologías de control reproductivo, aplicables a explotaciones cinegéticas cervunas y de pequeños rumiantes para mejorar la producción y la sostenibilidad de las mismas, minimizando la estacionalidad reproductiva y obteniendo productos lácteos de valor añadido.

Resultados: el producto final permite vehicular determinados principios activos para ingesta por vía oral, eficaces para desestacionalizar la reproducción e incrementar las producciones animales. Además, permitirá obtener un producto lácteo enriquecido con el consiguiente beneficio para la salud humana.

Participantes:

Dehesa de los Llanos SL

Medianilla SL

Marantona SA

Grupo SaBio. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

El objetivo general de este proyecto es desarrollar un protocolo adecuado para la fertilización in vitro en ciervo y adaptar el uso de muestras de semen sexado en esta especie. Proponemos para ello el desarrollo de los siguientes objetivos específicos:

1. Estudiar el tiempo ideal para capacitar espermatozoides y desarrollar medios definidos para la capacitación;
2. Determinar el efecto la tensión de oxígeno durante la maduración y la fertilización in vitro de los ovocitos sobre el desarrollo embrionario;
3. Estimar el efecto de la ausencia o presencia y el tiempo óptimo de adición del serum fetal bovino en el cultivo in vitro de embriones sobre el desarrollo embrionario;
4. Estudiar las condiciones y el tiempo de capacitación óptimo para semen sexado y la concentración óptima de semen sexado en IVF.

Proyecto número: AGL2013-48421-R. Financiado por: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Participantes: UCLM.

En este proyecto se estudiarán las características de los espermatozoides X e Y y se desarrollarán diluyentes de congelación específicos para cada tipo de espermatozoide.

Este es un proyecto del PN financiado por el MINECO.

El objetivo de este proyecto es desarrollar diluyentes definidos para mantener los espermatozoides de ciervo en estado líquido durante varios días antes de sexarlos. Además, se estudiarán otras técnicas de congelación espermática como la vitrificación.

This is a project coordinated by SaBio-IREC, with two key academic partners in Madrid (Univ. Complutense-VISAVET; www.vigilanciasanitaria.es) and Derio (NEIKER; www.neiker.net), and one external partner (Univ. York, UK).

Project description: This is a Plan Nacional I+D+i grant with reference number AGL2011-30041. It lasts from January 2012 to December 2014. Wildlife vaccination is a valuable alternative or complementary tool in TB control. The native Eurasian wild boar is regarded as a key TB reservoir in Spain and Portugal. This project aims to contribute to basic knowledge on wild boar response to vaccination and infection. Results derived from this research will benefit TB control in Spain and other regions where wild boar and feral pig act as TB reservoirs, and the control of other diseases where baiting is an option.

ANTIGONE is a project coordinated by Prof. Thijs Kuiken of the Viroscience lab of Erasmus MC. The consortium is composed of 14 research groups from 7 European Member States. SaBioIREC has an active participation across the proyect, often in close collaboration with other Spanish gropus such as VISAVET and Univ. Zaragoza. Find the details in the project link: http://www.antigonefp7.eu

Project description: ANTIGONE is a Large Scale Integrating Project, funded by the European Commission’s FP7 program under contract number 278976. The consortium collaborates in advancing our knowledge of viruses and bacteria from animals. In particular, ANTIGONE focuses on the question: “why do some viruses and bacteria that come from animals cause epidemics in humans, whilst others do not?” SaBio-IREC participates with primary research and horizontal actions, with emphasis on vector-borne diseases, Mycobacterium bovis and Escherichia coli. ANTIGONE will run from November 2011 to November 2016.

This grant is coordinated by SaBio-IREC and the consortium includes eight European partner institutes and close to 20 external partners. Find the details in http://www.aphaea.eu/partners

Project description: This EMIDA ERA-NET (coordination of European Research on Emerging and Major Infectious Diseases of production Animals) (http://www.emida-era.net) project aims at establishing a European wildlife disease surveillance network that is capable of providing reliable estimates of abundance of wildlife species and of pathogen distribution in key wildlife species. It will contribute to the development, implementation and encouragement of the use of harmonized procedures for wildlife population abundance estimation, sampling and diagnosis, both at national and European levels, in order to improve wildlife health surveillance in general. Link: http://www.aphaea.eu

Las garrapatas son ectoparásitos artrópodos que se alimentan de sangre y transmiten patógenos que constituyen una carga creciente para la salud humana y animal en todo el mundo. Las garrapatas transmiten bacterias, parásitos y virus y se las considera sólo en segundo lugar, tras los mosquitos, como vectores de enfermedades humanas y las primeras como vectores de enfermedades para los animales. Uno de estos patógenos es la bacteria intracelular Anaplasma phagocytophilum, transmitida principalmente por garrapatas del género Ixodes, agente causal de la anaplasmosis granulocítica humana (AGH), anaplasmosis granulocítica equina y canina, y la fiebre transmitida por garrapatas en rumiantes. Este patógeno es un buen modelo debido a que análisis recientes de las interacciones moleculares entre garrapatas Ixodes, A. phagocytophilum, y las células del hospedador demostraron efectos nocivos provocados tanto por las garrapatas como los patógenos pero también revelaron los mutuos efectos beneficiosos de la interacciones moleculares garrapata-hospedador-patógeno. Estas observaciones esclarecen los mecanismos de coevolución por los cuales los patógenos manipulan la respuesta protectora de las garrapatas para facilitar la infección mientras que a la vez preservan su capacidad vectorial y de alimentación para garantizar la supervivencia tanto de los patógenos como de las garrapatas. La caracterización del conflicto y efectos beneficiosos mutuos en las interacciones garrapata-hospedador-patógeno ayudarán a la identificación de nuevos objetivos para el control de las enfermedades transmitidas por garrapatas.

Artículo relacionado:

de la Fuente, J., Villar, M., Cabezas-Cruz, A., Estrada-Peña, A., Ayllón, N., Alberdi, P. (2016). Tick–Host–Pathogen Interactions: Conflict and Cooperation. PLoS Pathog 12(4): e1005488. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005488.

Tuberculosis (TB), a chronic disease caused by infection with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, is endemic in wild boar and red deer in south-central Spain. Understanding the temporal dynamics of this chronic infection requires long time series data collection over large areas. SaBio researchers identified the determinants of TB prevalence and severity in both species in Ciudad Real province, Spain. Study variables included management, population dynamics, and a range of geographical and climatological factors. The prevalence of TB in wild boar increased from 50% to 63% since the study commenced. This may be due to an increased hunting bag (a proxy for population abundance), which was correlated with TB infection rates. Low rainfall (a stochastic factor) was associated with higher individual risk of TB presence and progression, resulting in an increased proportion of severe cases of wild boar TB in dry years. This was probably a result of increased food restriction leading to a higher susceptibility to TB. In contrast, red deer TB showed an apparent stable trend. Hunting management, characterized by fencing, was associated with a higher risk of TB in both wild boar and red deer, suggesting that intensive hunting management may have contributed to exacerbated TB figures. Our findings on TB dynamics are fundamental for assessing the impact of future disease-control actions (e.g. field vaccination). Moreover, such control plans must operate in the long term and cover large areas.

Wild boar TB prevalence (upper panel, solid line) and population trend (upper panel, grey line) in Montes de Toledo, Spain, between 2000 and 2012.

Related article:

Vicente, J., Barasona, J.A., Acevedo, P., Ruiz-Fons, J.F, Boadella, M., Diez-Delgado, I., Beltran-Beck, B., González-Barrio, D., Queirós, J., de la Fuente, J., Gortazar, C. 2013. Temporal trend of tuberculosis in wild ungulates from Mediterranean Spain. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases 60 (Suppl. 1): 92-103.

The emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in September 2012, a respiratory infection caused by MERS coronavirus (CoV), a betacoronavirus, is of concern for the global health community. Most reported cases occurred in the Middle East, mainly in Saudi Arabia and Jordan. A few imported cases have been recorded in Europe. MERS CoV has caused globally a total of 78 deaths out of 182 laboratory-confirmed human infections (03-Feb 2014). This infection is likely of zoonotic origin and thus of relevance for the veterinary sector. Betacoronaviruses have their origin in bats, and many of them have bats as definitive hosts. This is the case for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and some related bat coronaviruses recently found in Europe. MERS-CoV is comparable to SARS-CoV in several aspects. MERS-CoV is easily cultured in bat-derived cell lines, suggesting a similar origin. The likelihood of contact between people and bats is low, except for cave explorers and specific risk groups. SARSCoV became transmitted to people through civets (carnivores that are bred for human consumption in Southeast Asia). How civets got the virus from bats is unknown. It is presently not known if there is an intermediate host for MERS equivalent to the civets for SARS. However, a very recent study has shown that 100% of 50 camel sera from Oman had specific antibodies against MERS-CoV spike protein. Moreover, 15 of 105 (14%) camels from western Africa also showed antibodies against the virus. Importantly, the serological tests used were specific and did not cross-react with other coronaviruses. Although not surprising, fairly limited epidemiological investigations indicated that some patients with MERS had contact with camels, and probably many had consumed camel meat. In such an emerging scenario, scientists from several institutions are struggling to collect more material, particularly from Middle East countries with reported human cases, but also from other regions with overlap between bats and camels. Although the zoonotic links are still unclear, we expect MERS to become relevant for the veterinary community and an interesting case study regarding disease emergence at the wildlife-livestock-human interface.

Based on the apparent widespread nature of the infection in the analyzed Middle East camels, together with the usual close contact of these animals with humans in that geographic area (food source, markets, and races), it has been suggested that camels might play a role as a potential intermediate host for MERS.

Related articles:

Gortazar C., Segalés J. (2013). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus: A New Challenge for Veterinarians? Veterinary Pathology 50: 954-955.

Reusken CBEM, Haagmans BL, Müller MA, Gutierrez C, Godeke G-J, Meyer B, Muth D, Raj VS, Smits-De Vries L, Corman VM, Drexler JF, Smits SL, El Tahir YE, De Sousa R, van Beek J, Nowotny N, van Maanen K, Hidalgo-Hermoso E, Bosch BJ, Rottier P, Osterhaus A, Gortázar-Schmidt C, Drosten C, Koopmans MPG (2013). Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralizing serum antibodies in dromedary camels: a comparative serological study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 13: 859-866.

Tuberculosis (TB) is endemic in Eurasian wild boar and red deer in south central Spain, where evidence suggests transmission to domestic cattle. Known risk factors for TB at the interface between livestock and wild ungulate species include density and spatial overlap, particularly around waterholes during summer. We evaluated the effectiveness of selective exclusion measures for reducing direct and indirect interaction between extensive beef cattle and wild ungulates at waterholes as an alternative for the integrated control of TB. We first monitored 6 water points (WP) with infrared-triggered cameras at a TB positive cattle farm to quantify interactions. We then assigned 3 WP to be“cattle-only” and 3 to be “wildlife-only”. Cattle-only WP were surrounded with a wildlife proof fence (2.5 m high) and an original design of cattle-specific gate. Wildlife-only WP were surrounded by a fence that wild ungulates could breach but cattle could not (1.2 m high). Red deer, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and wild boar easily jumped or undercrossed this fence. Wildlife-only fences were 100% effective in preventing cattle access to WP and did not impede wildlife use. Many cows learned to operate the cattle-specific gate quickly and others followed and learned from them. Within 2 weeks, around 70% of cows actively entered and exited through the cattle-specific gate. We demonstrate how simple, low cost fencing strategies can serve as biosecurity measures to substantially reduce direct and indirect contact between cattle and wild ungulates, serving to reduce the potential for TB transmission. Our designs can be used in the context of integral plans to mitigate disease transmission between cattle and wildlife, and have potential for protecting or segregating the use of a variety of resources in different contexts.

A cattle bump gate (upper panel) and the TB control skin test results in the study farm and in the control farms from the same veterinary unit. Skin test reactors diminished after setting up selective fences on the study farm, and not in the controls.

Related article:

Barasona, J.A., VerCauteren, K.C., Saklou, N., Gortazar, C., Vicente, J. (2013). Effectiveness of cattle operated bump gates and exclusion fences in preventing ungulate multi-host sanitary interaction. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 111: 42-50.

The number of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) that cause diseases in humans and animals is rapidly increasing. Thus, it is important to characterize TBP present in different areas and hosts for epidemiological studies and proper diagnosis of possible tick-borne diseases.

Rickettsia species in questing ticks collected in central Spain.

(A) Study area with 20 collection sites where ticks were found (black dots) out of the 39 sites surveyed (white and black dots). (B) Multilocus sequence analysis of Rickettsia spp. Abbreviations: Rc, R. conorii; Ra, R. africae; Rr, R. rickettsii; Rs, R. slovaca; Rm, R. massiliae; Rsm, R. sibirica subsp. mongolitimonae; R. raoultii; Rsang, R. sanguineus; Rtur, R. turanicus; Rpus, R. pusillus; Dmar, D. marginatus; Hmar, H. marginatum. Figure from Fernández de Mera et al. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2013, 19: 1163-1165.

Related papers:

Fernández de Mera, I.G., Ruiz-Fons, F., de la Fuente, G., Mangold, A.J., Gortázar, C., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in questing ticks, central Spain. Emerging Infectious Diseases 19: 1163-1165.

Cabezas-Cruz, A., Passos, L.M.F., Lis, K., Kenneil, R., Valdés, J.J., Ferrolho, J., Tonk, M., Pohl, A.E., Grubhoffer, L., Zweygarth, E., Shkap, V., Ribeiro, M.F.B., Estrada-Peña, A., Kocan, K.M., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Functional and immunological relevance of Anaplasma marginale major surface protein 1a sequence and structural analysis. PLoS ONE 8(6): e65243.

Estrada-Peña, A., Ruiz-Fons, F., Acevedo, P., Gortazar, C., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Factors driving the circulation and possible expansion of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus in the western Palearctic. Journal of Applied Microbiology 114: 278-286.

Hornok, S., Csörgő, T., de la Fuente, J., Gyuranecz, M., Privigyei, C., Meli, M., Kreizinger, Z., Tánczos, B., Gönczi, E., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Farkas, R., Hofmann-Lehmann, R. 2013. Synanthropic birds associated with high prevalence of tick-borne rickettsiae and with the first detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii in Hungary. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 13: 77-83.

Bonnet, S., de la Fuente, J., Nicollet, P., Liu, X., Madani, N., Blanchard, B., Maingourd, C., Alongi, A., Torina, A., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Vicente, J., George, J-C., Vayssier-Taussat, M., Joncour, G. 2013. Prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in adult Dermacentor spp. ticks from nine collection sites in France. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases 13: 226-236.

Hornok, S., Dénes, B., Meli, M.L., Tánczos, B., Fekete, L., Gyuranecz, M., de la Fuente, J., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Farkas, R., Hofmann-Lehmann, R. 2013. Non-pet dogs as synanthropic reservoirs of tick-borne and zoonotic bacteria. Veterinary Microbiology 167: 700-703.

7. Anaplasma phagocytophilum inhibe la apoptosis y promueve la reorganización del citoesqueleto para la infección de células de garrapata

Anaplasma phagocytophilum causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Infection with this zoonotic pathogen affects gene expression in both vertebrate host and the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis. Here, we identified new genes, including spectrin alpha chain or alpha-fodrin (CG8) and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel or mitochondrial porin (T2), that are involved in A. phagocytophilum infection/multiplication and the tick cell response to infection. The pathogen downregulated the expression of CG8 in tick salivary glands and T2 in both the gut and salivary glands to inhibit apoptosis as a mechanism to subvert host cell defenses and increase infection. In the gut, tick response to infection through CG8 upregulation was used by the pathogen to increase infection due to cytoskeleton rearrangement that is required for pathogen infection. These results increased our understanding of the role of tick genes during A. phagocytophilum infection and multiplication and demonstrated that the pathogen uses similar strategies to establish infection in both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts.

 Mitochondrially-induced apoptosis pathway showing the effect of A. phagocytophilum infection on reducing T2 levels which results in the inhibition of tick cell apoptosis.

Related paper:

Ayllón, N., Villar, M., Busby, A.T., Kocan, K.M., Blouin, E.F., Bonzón-Kulichenko, E., Galindo, R.C., Mangold, A.J., Alberdi, P., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Vázquez, J., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Anaplasma phagocytophilum inhibits apoptosis and promotes cytoskeleton rearrangement for infection of tick cells. Infection and Immunity 81: 2415-2425.

Diseases transmitted by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and sand flies greatly impact human and animal health and therefore their control is important for the eradication of vector-borne diseases (VBD). Vaccination is an environmentally friendly alternative for vector control that allows control of several VBD by targeting their common vector. The discovery of new candidate vaccine antigens for the control of vector infestations and pathogen infection and transmission requires the development of effective screening platforms and algorithms that allow the analysis and validation of data produced by systems biology approaches to the study of vector-host-pathogen interactions. Our results have suggested that subolesin (SUB) and its ortholog in insects, akirin (AKR) are good candidate antigens for the control of arthropod vector infestations and pathogen infection. New screening platforms have also discovered new candidate protective antigens. The effect of vaccination on different hosts, vector species, developmental stages and vector-borne pathogen infections demonstrated the feasibility of developing universal vaccines for the control of multiple vector infestations and for reduction of some VBD. Vaccines that affect both vector infestations and pathogen transmission could be used to vaccinate human and animal populations at risk and reservoir species to reduce host exposure to ectoparasites while reducing the number of infected ectoparasites and their vectorial capacity for pathogens that affect human and animal health worldwide.

The major challenges in vaccinomics are data integration analysis after systems biology approaches to the study of tick-host-pathogen interactions and the development of algorithms for the identification of tick protective antigens. Vaccine trials for validation of candidate vaccines are also a limiting step due to time and funding needed to complete these studies. Figure from de la Fuente & Merino. Vaccine 2013, 31: 5923-5929.

Related papers:

de la Fuente, J., Merino, O. 2013. Vaccinomics, the new road to tick vaccines. Vaccine 31: 5923-5929.

de la Fuente, J., Moreno-Cid, J.A., Galindo, R.C., Almazán, C., Kocan, K.M., Merino, O., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Estrada-Peña, A., Blouin, E.F. 2013. Subolesin/Akirin vaccines for the control of arthropod vectors and vector-borne pathogens. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases 60 (Suppl. 2): 172-178.

Moreno-Cid, J.A., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Villar, M., Jiménez, M., Pinal, R., Estrada-Peña, A., Alarcón, P., Delacour, S., Oropeza, V., Ruiz, I., Molina, R., Lucientes, J., Prudencio, C.R., Galindo, R.C., Almazán, C., Nijhof, A.M., Mangold, A.J., Gortázar, C., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Control of multiple arthropod vector infestations with subolesin/akirin vaccines. Vaccine 31: 1187-1196.

Havlíková, S., Ličková, M., Ayllón, N., Roller, L., Kazimírová, M., Slovák,M., Moreno-Cid, J.A., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Klempa, B., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Immunization with recombinant subolesin does not reduce tick infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus nor protect mice against disease. Vaccine 31: 1582-1589.

Merino, M., Antunes, S., Mosqueda, J., Moreno-Cid, J.A., Pérez de la Lastra, J.M., Rosario-Cruz, R., Rodríguez, S., Domingos, A., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Vaccination with proteins involved in tick-pathogen interactions reduces vector infestations and pathogen infection. Vaccine 31: 5889-5896.

Tick infestations affect human and animal health worldwide and economically impact cattle production in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Vaccines containing the recombinant R. microplus BM86 gut antigen were developed and commercialized to induce an immunological protection in cattle against tick infestations. These vaccines demonstrated that tick control by vaccination is cost-effective, reduces environmental contamination and prevents the selection of drug resistant ticks that result from repeated acaricide applications. The protection elicited by BM86-containing vaccines against tick infestations is mediated by a collaborative action between the complement system and IgG antibodies. The efficacy of the vaccination with BM86 and other tick antigens is always higher for R. annulatus than against R. microplus, suggesting that tick genetic and/or physiological factors may affect tick vaccine efficacy. These factors may be related to BM86 protein levels or tick physiological processes such as feeding and protein degradation that could result in more efficient antibody-antigen interactions and vaccine efficacy. These results have important implications for tick vaccine research, indicating that not only genetic differences, but also physiological factors may influence tick vaccine efficacy.

Schematic representation of the relationship between protein degradation machinery and vaccine efficacy in cattle vaccinated with BM86 to protect against cattle tick infestations.

Popara, M., Villar, M., Mateos-Hernández, L., Fernández de Mera, I.G., Marina, A., del Valle, M., Almazán, C., Domingos, A., de la Fuente, J. 2013. Lesser protein degradation machinery correlates with higher BM86 tick vaccine efficacy in Rhipicephalus annulatus when compared to R. microplus. Vaccine 31: 4728-4735.

Hajdušek, O., Šíma, R., Ayllón, N., Jalovecká, M., Perner, J., de la Fuente, J., Kopáček, P. 2013. Interaction of the tick immune system with transmitted pathogens. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 3: 26.

Ben Said, M., Galai, Y., Ben Ahmed, M., Gharbi, M., de la Fuente, J., Jedidi, M., Darghouth, M.A. 2013. Hd86 mRNA expression profile in Hyalomma scupense life stages, could it contribute to explain anti-tick vaccine effect discrepancy between adult and immature instars? Veterinary Parasitology 198: 258-263.

El grupo de biología de la reproducción en 2010

El proyecto ANTIGONE en el IREC

Muestreo para vigilancia de TB en el jabalí