Promising sea lice vaccine
Researchers at University College Dublin have been looking for an effective vaccine to help salmon fend off sea lice. Sea lice is a big problem in the Irish salmon industry with an estimated cost of €670,000 each year, with losses of around €200 million annually worldwide, according to Grace Mulcahy, professor of veterinary microbiology and parasitology at UCD.
Mulcahy and her team at UCD first combed through information from the fish genome in search of potentially important targets. They based their search on their understanding of other parasites, such as liver fluke in cattle and sheep, the Irish Times reported.
The next step in the project, in which UCD collaborates with the Marine Institute and McGill University in Canada, was to choose the top five most likely candidates and put them to the test.
Working with Dr David Jackson at the Marine Institute, the scientists administered selected protein antigens to the salmon and then looked at how the fish handled infestation. So far, one of the proteins has shown promising results, senior researcher Dr Elaine McCarthy told the newspaper:
“Vaccination with this antigen resulted in lower attachment rates and establishment of the parasite on the host when compared to control groups.
“We are optimistic that this antigen may lead to a vaccine against sea lice in the future,” she said.
