Plant and Animal Health

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that impacts human and animal health worldwide. Infection in humans is usually very mild, however, there can be severe or life-threatening disease in immune compromised people or pregnant women. Toxoplasma also impacts the livestock sector where it can cause abortion in sheep and goats. Foodborne transmission of T. gondii is thought to be a major source of infection in people, particularly the consumption of raw or undercooked meat.

The bacterial pathogen Chlamydia abortus is responsible for causing the disease ovine enzootic abortion (OEA), also known as enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE). It is the most common infectious cause of reproductive loss (causing abortion usually in the last three weeks of pregnancy) in sheep in Scotland and the UK, as well as being common throughout the world. 

Roundworms and sheep scab mites are common throughout the UK and threaten the health, welfare and productivity of grazing livestock. Infections are commonly controlled using organophosphate dips and/or anthelmintics.  The development and dissemination of resistance to these compounds and variation in the epidemiology of roundworms resulting from changes in climate and farm management are making the sustainable control of these parasites more challenging, particularly roundworms.

Infectious diseases have a major impact on the welfare and productivity of animals raised for food production worldwide. Furthermore, poor productivity leads to increased carbon emissions, and the drugs used to control infections can harm the environment and reduce biodiversity. Therefore, better control of infections in food producing animals will play a key role in achieving important policy goals, including Net-Zero and Biodiversity targets.

Microbes play a wide variety of essential roles in keeping our guts healthy and in supporting food and agriculture production. Conversely, some microbial populations can cause serious disease, as foodborne pathogens or infectious agents of food-producing animals and crops.

Plant pests and pathogens can have a devastating impact not only on plant hosts but also the wider biodiversity that use the infected plant (e.g., for food, breeding and shelter). Thus, a decline in one plant species can have cascading effects on a wide range of other species, sometimes causing severe declines in their populations.