Page 85 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Geoffrey Fosgate and David Lazarus
Efficacy of vaccination and exploring goat movement patterns
Dr David Lazarus has focused his doctoral studies in the Department of Production Animal Studies on understanding the immune responses of goats to viral infections and the efficacy of FMD vaccination. He has also explored livestock movement patterns among smallholder farmers.
The priority in animal disease control programmes has been large ruminants and commercial livestock production. Small ruminants, including goats, are affected by FMD but the clinical signs of the disease are often mild and inapparent, with consequences for the ‘silent’ transmission through the uncontrolled movement of infected animals. Goats contribute to the
livelihoods of smallholder farmers and
the local economy. Lazarus’s study has confirmed that goats are typically moved great distances within a communal farming system, which increases the potential spread of FMDV.
His project has also involved the study
of the immunology of the disease and vaccine in goats in a controlled environment. Preliminary findings suggest that indigenous goats experimentally infected with FMDV can transmit infection to in-contacts. Results from the vaccination study suggest that one-sixth of the FMD vaccine dose used for cattle
will be sufficient for the reduction of viral shedding in goats.
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