Dr Stewart Burgess

Dr Stew Burgess is the Head of the Vaccines and Diagnostics Department at the Moredun Research Institute, Edinburgh. He also leads the sheep scab research group, which focuses on developing novel tools for the control of sheep scab, caused by skin infestation with the sheep scab mite, Psoroptes ovis. Recent developments include a commercially available sheep scab blood test, which can detect infested animals before the appearance of clinical signs and also the first prototype sheep scab vaccine, which significantly reduces mite numbers and the size of the skin lesions, offering a more sustainable method of scab control in the future. Stew also leads several sheep scab control programmes across the UK, including the Rural Development Programme England (RDPE)-funded sheep scab control programme in England, a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded control programme in Northern Ireland and a Scottish Government-funded control programme on the Western Isles of Lewis & Harris.