Causes and incidence of calf morbidity and mortality in Kenyan smallholder dairy farms at University of Edinburgh on FindAPhD.com

This project is no longer listed on FindAPhD.com and may not be available.

Click here to search FindAPhD.com for PhD studentship opportunities

Dr M Bronsvoort, Dr L Morrison, Dr Annie Cook No more applications being accepted Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)

Edinburgh United Kingdom Genetics

College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh

About the Project

Smallholder dairy farming is a rapidly growing area in East Africa promoted by NGOs (including BMGF) as a means of improving income and food security in these LMICs. However, imported European genetic stock with high production potential are not well adapted to the disease challenges that they face and in particular the multiple pathogen co-infections. Annecdotal evidence suggests extremely high mortality in these cross-bred calves represeting a huge genetic loss but also a huge inefficiency in the dairy system contributing to a higher CO₂ foot print and a failure to deliver the economic benefits envisaged.

This project will build on an ongoing calf cohort study in Kenya to understand what are the main causes of calf morbidity and mortality in this smallholder system. What is the incidence of major syndromes such as calf diarrhoea and pneumonia and what are the underlying pathogens of importance? The successful cadidate will be expected to spend ~1year in the field contributing to data collect and in particular conducting clinical examinations and post mortems.

The team has extensive experience managing large cohort studies in Africa (Bronsvoort et al 2013) and previous work in indigenous cattle has identified East Coast fever (ECF) caused by T. parva and gut nematodes, principly H. contortus, as major causes of mortality anad morbidity. Further, our experience also demonstrated that co-infections were important but the tools available at the time to fully examine the pathogens infecting an animal were limited. We have since developed an amplicon based approach to study parasitic infections. However, we want to use this opportunity to also develop NGS based diagnostic tools for key syndromes in these populations that can help understand the epidemiology and causes of martality and morbidity and help then prioritise the development of penside tests that can be deployed by local veterinarians or paravets to allow better clinically management and reduce antibiotic use through improved management such as vaccination etc.

Funding Notes

This 3.5 year studentship opportunity is open to UK and international students and provides funding to cover stipend, tuition fees and consumable/travel costs. Applications including a statement of interest and full CV with names and addresses (including email addresses) of two academic referees, should be emailed to [Email Address Removed].
When applying for the studentship please state clearly the project title/s and the supervisor/s in your covering letter.
We would encourage applicants to list up to three projects of interest (ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice) from those listed with a closing date of 4th January 2023 at https://www.ed.ac.uk/roslin/work-study/opportunities/studentships

References

Bronsvoort et al (2013) Design and descriptive epidemiology of the Infectious Diseases of East African Livestock (IDEAL) project, a longitudinal calf cohort study in western Kenya BMC VetRes 9: 71 10.1186/1746-6148-9-171
Wragg, D., Cook, E.A.J., Latre de Late, P., Sitt, T., Hemmink, J.D., Chepkowny, M., Njeru, R., Poole, E.J., Powell, J., Paxton, E., Callaby, R., Talenti, A., Miyunga, A.A., Ndambuki, G., Mwaura, S., Auty, H., Matika, O.,, Hassan, M., Marshall, K., Connelley, T., Morrison, L.J., Bronsvoort, B.M.deC., Morrison, W.I., Toye, P.G., Prendergast, J.G.D. (2021) A locus conferring tolerance to Theileria infection in African cattle BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.26.453771
M.E.J. Woolhouse, S. M. Thumbi, A. Jennings, M. Chase-Topping, R. Callaby, H. Kiara, M. Oosthuizen, M. Ndila, I. Conradie, I.G. Handel, E.J. Poole, E. Njiri, N.E. Collins, G. Murray, M. Tapio, O. Tosas Auguet, W. Weir, W.I. Morrison, L. E.B. Kruuk, B.M. de C. Bronsvoort, O. Hanotte, J. A. W. Coetzer, P.G.Toye (2015) Coinfections determine the clinical outcome of parasite infection. Science Advances 1:e140002

Where will I study?

University of Edinburgh

One of the world''s top universities, consistently ranked in the world top 50 and placed 20th in the QS World University Rankings 2020. We provide a stimulating working, learning and teaching environment with access to excellent facilities and attract the world''s best, from Nobel Prize winning laureates to future explorers, pioneers and inventors.