MSD Animal Health agrees new bovine mastitis research collaboration

MSD Animal Health has formed a new public-private alliance to support its efforts to research new vaccination approaches for bovine mastitis.

The company will be collaborating with the Department of Medical Microbiology of the University Medical Centre Utrecht and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Utrecht University to study new approaches to tackling bacterial udder infections in dairy cattle.

Entitled Evasion Molecules in Bovine Mastitis Vaccines, the project will be funded by Dutch authorities and will target bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli.

Mastitis is considered a major issue for the dairy industry, with current antibiotic treatments associated with high treatment costs and a high risk of drug-resistant disease developing.

Dr Rene Aerts, vice-president for global biologicals research and development at MSD Animal Health, said the new research could "result in unprecedented possibilities to control the disease".

This comes after the company launched a vaccine for myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease last month.