PhD opportunity at Durham University, UK Can face flies, Musca autumnalis, transmit tuberculosis from badgers to cattle?
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of considerable economic and social importance in the UK where its control has cost the taxpayer £500m over the past decade. Currently, control is targeted at culling badgers. Badger-to-cattle transmission of the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) agent Mycobacterium bovis remains poorly understood. We hypothesise that the cattle face fly, Musca autumnalis, may vector Mycobacterium bovis, from infected-badger faeces directly to cattle. This seems possible since the flies are common where bTB occurs, they land frequently on the nostrils and mouths of cattle and they are attracted to badger faeces. We propose to explore this relationship by carrying out field and laboratory research to investigate the dynamics of possible transmission. This project is in competition with others for funding. Success will depend on the quality of applications received, relative to those for competing projects. If you are interested in applying, in the first instance contact Professor S.W. Lindsay ([email protected]) with a CV and covering letter, detailing your reasons for applying for the project. More on Durham University can be found here: http://www.dur.ac.uk/postgraduate/
