Page 81 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Exploring the secrets
of an age-old disease,
anthrax
Henriette van Heerden, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases
Anthrax, linked to the biblical fifth and sixth plagues,
is one of the oldest infectious diseases. Best known
as the white powder bioweapon, anthrax is a complex zoonotic disease that affects livestock, wildlife (especially herbivores), and to a lesser extent humans. It is caused by the endospore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which enables the bacterium to survive for decades.
In South Africa, anthrax is endemic to the northern region of Kruger National Park and the Ghaap area
in the Northern Cape province. The Kruger National Park has offered UP researchers an ideal opportunity to investigate the B. anthracis life cycle in susceptible wildlife hosts.
Henriette van Heerden, Associate Professor in Veterinary Tropical Diseases, and researchers in
the anthrax group at UP are at
the forefront of anthrax studies. They have contributed to the diagnostics of B. anthracis, molecular characterisation using whole genome sequencing, rendering methods,
and the microbiology of anthrax and vaccine development.
Research published in 2018 included an ecological prediction model of
the survival of B. anthracis spores in the Kruger National Park (PLOS One); rendering methods during outbreaks (Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research); and the characterisation
of a rare strain (BMC Research Notes). With respect to vaccine development, the group has continued in the tradition of Max Sterne who developed the first anthrax vaccine at Onderstepoort in 1937, derivatives of which are still widely used globally. The research group has optimised
a passive protection model to test protection of anthrax vaccines in mice (Journal of Veterinary Research) and is optimising non-living vaccine with a vaccine company.
Recent research conducted by the anthrax group, in collaboration
with Skukuza State Veterinary
Services and South African National Parks (SANParks), forms part of an international grant funded by the
US National Science Foundation, in partnership with ecologist Wendy Turner at the University at Albany.
The focus is on investigating the roles of hosts, and persistent pathogen
and environmental factors in the transmission and evolution of anthrax. The project has already started
tracking the movements of impala, kudu, zebra and wildebeest using telemetry collars.
Anthrax is a disease that continues to have an impact on agriculture
and the livelihoods as well as health of communities across the African continent. The research group at
UP has established the African Infectious Diseases Network to assist in advocating the importance of diagnostics, and to render support to other SADC countries with respect to disease identification and control.
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