Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella that mainly affects cattle, goats, sheep, swine and canids. It is estimated that brucellosis is the most widespread bacterial zoonosis in the world, with a high incidence in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In animals, brucellosis causes abortions, reduced fertility and reduced milk production, with serious economic losses that affect, above all, the poorest countries and communities, which depend to a large extent on livestock farming for their livelihood. In addition, the infection is easily transmitted to humans by direct contact with infected animals, through wounds and inhalation, and by ingestion of unpasteurized milk and dairy products. In humans it causes a variety of non-specific symptoms - fever (Malta fever), joint pain, fatigue, neurological impairment and depression - which can be disabling and resemble those of other febrile diseases, including malaria, trypanosomiasis, dengue fever and certain forms of tuberculosis, all of which are common in the same areas as brucellosis, confounding the diagnosis. In endemic countries, ignorance of the clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of the disease is widespread and brucellosis is an undiagnosed and consequently neglected disease. It is estimated that the issue of human cases per year is more than 2 million, an issue that is very possibly lower than the real one, as it does not reflect the 3 billion ruminants that are potential sources of human infections in endemic areas.
The treatment of brucellosis combines several antibiotics and is long and expensive, so it is not useful in animals and is practically impossible to apply in humans in areas where it is endemic. There are no human vaccines, but there are vaccines against ruminant brucellosis, and these are the only effective way to control human brucellosis by reducing or eliminating infection in animals. However, they do not provide absolute immunity and, among other problems, cause abortions in pregnant animals, making their use very complicated or impossible in large areas of Africa and Asia where the climate means that pregnancies are not seasonal and are not concentrated in a short period, as is the case in temperate zones. In addition, some vaccines are resistant to the antibiotics used in their treatment and are infectious to humans. There are no vaccines against swine brucellosis, a necessity in many Asian countries, but not in other areas, due to differences in production systems.
Therefore, the control and eradication of brucellosis requires, above all, knowledge of the disease (epidemiology, animal and human diagnosis and prophylaxis) and, with current vaccines, an advanced veterinary and medical infrastructure that does not exist in most endemic areas. Consequently, in order to facilitate the control of brucellosis in countries with infrastructural weaknesses, the brucellosis group of the University of Navarra works on four pillars:
Study of the pathogenicity mechanisms of the causative agent.
Development of vaccines that improve existing ones.
Improvement of diagnostic tools.
Teaching and international cooperation actions.
ALBERTO DELGADO
laboratory analyst / teaching assistant research teaching assistant
806205
adlopez@unav.es
Advancing safe vaccines against ovine brucellosis: efficacy of improved B. melitensis and B. ovis vaccine candidates and innovative in vitro models
officialreference letter : PID2023-146797OB-C31 (BruVac-Cell).
Funding entity: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.
Principalresearcher : Raquel Conde-Álvarez.
Amount financed: UNAV 162.500€.
Start and end date: 01/09/2024 - 31/08/2028.
Collaborating Partners: CITA-ARAGÓN and UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA.
HORIZON-CL6-2021-FARM2FORK-01. Next-generation vaccines and diagnostics to prevent livestock reproductive diseases of worldwide impact (REPRODIVAC).
Number: 101060813.
Funding Entity: HORIZON-IA.
Principalresearcher : Raquel Conde-Álvarez.
Amount financed: 6,036,598.50 (UNAV: 106,452.50 €).
Start and end date: 01/09/2022 - 31/08/2027.
https://www.reprodivac.eu/
Collaborating Partners: Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development; Wageningen University & Research; University of Lleida; Centre D'estudis Porcins; Ceva Animal Health; Friedrich Loeffler Institut; Centro De Investigacion Y Tecnologia Agroalimentaria De Aragón; University of Murcia; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Associacio Porcsa-Grup de Sanejament Porcì; CZ Veterinaria S.A. - CZ Vaccines; Global DX Ltd. ; Pirbright Institute; Moredun Research Institute and École normale supérieure de Lyon.
Ovine Brucellosis: Safe Vaccines and Diva Strategies Against B. Melitensis and B. Ovis
reference letter Official: PID2019-107601RA-C32.
researcher Principal: Raquel Conde-Álvarez.
Start and end date: 01-07-2020/30-06-2023.
Funding entity: Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Money awarded: 88,300 €.
Brucellosis: Diagnostic tests and DIVA vaccines against Brucella ovis and Brucella suis.
officialreference letter : AGL2014-58795-C4-1-R
Funding Entity: Ministerio de Economics y Competitividad. research Científica, development e Innovación.
Principalresearcher :: Ignacio Moriyón Uría and Raquel Conde-Álvarez.
Start and enddate : 01/09/2015 - 31/12/2018.
Amount funded: 310,000 €.
Brucellosis Tagged Vaccines: development and analysis of their immunizing ability and of the associated infected-vaccinated differentiation tests.
officialreference letter : AGL2011-30453-C04-01.
Funding Entity: Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Start and end date: 01/01/2012 - 30/09/2015.
Grant amount: 121,000 €.
Principalresearcher : Ignacio Moriyón Uría and Maite Iriarte Cilveti.
Adaptation of Bruceladder to the molecular identification of vaccines and new Brucella genovarieties.
officialreference letter : PT053 BRULADDER.
Funding entity: Government of Navarra. department economicdevelopment .
Principalresearcher : Raquel Conde-Álvarez
Start and end date: 18/01/2017 - 17/01/2018.
Amount funded: 49,517.79 €.
Two new tools for identification and molecular typing of Brucella bacteria.
Funding entity: Government of Navarra, department Economicdevelopment .
Start and end date: 01/02/2018 - 01/06/2019.
Granted amount: 51.106,34 €.
Principalresearcher : Raquel Conde-Álvarez.