Review of the Food-borne Zoonoses Research ... - ARCHIVE: Defra

4. Other zoonotic pathogens of interest review summary
4.1 Success of research in providing value to Defra
Defra has funded research projects on Cryptosporidium, Yersinia and Neospora. Each
project was thought to have improved understanding of the zoonotic risk from these
pathogens and therefore funding in this area has been of value to Defra.
Studies of Cryptosporidium infection confirmed that pets are rarely a source of infection
for humans but that some human infections could be attributed to farm animals.
Challenge experiments demonstrated for the first time that C. hominis could infect a wide
range of farm species, including calves, lambs piglets and poultry. The research on
Neospora did not provide evidence that there is a zoonotic risk from cattle. Yersinia
enterocolitica strains present in livestock were shown to be a potential threat to human
health.
4.2 Issues and areas of concern relating to this research
There were no generic issues of concern in this research area. The Yersinia research
had generated valuable publications, but it was considered disappointing that more had
not been published from the Cryptosporidium work.
4.3 Gaps in research
Although additional work could always be carried out, no significant gaps were identified
in the research.
It was felt that the research agenda in this area should largely be driven by policy needs.
There was potential for more work on Cryptosporidium sp. and Yersinia sp. There was
not a strong case for Defra to fund further studies on Neospora sp. but a case could be
made for working in partnership with industry on Neospora as an endemic disease.
Surveillance or prevalence studies would be useful to determine the importance of
diseases such as Q fever, toxoplasmosis or Lyme disease in UK livestock. Research to
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