Dr Abdullah G Arijo, Department of Parasitology, Sindh Agricultural University Tandojam, and Dr Mather from University of Rhode Island (URI) have said that in Pakistan, more than 75 percent of the rural population practices livestock husbandry, and a majority of these people depend upon livestock for their subsistence.
Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) and other significant tick-transmitted pathogens of humans and animals are endemic to certain regions of Pakistan and have the potential to cause significant human morbidity and mortality and impact on Pakistan's agricultural economy and the livelihood of its rural citizens.
This project proposes to establish a molecular entomology laboratory at Sindh Agricultural University (SAU) to build Pakistani capabilities to study and prevent tick-transmitted diseases in Pakistan.
The project will focus on developing high-throughput transcriptomic, functional genomic, and proteomic systems and strategies aimed at identifying tick salivary proteins that can produce strong delayed-type hypersensitivity or DTH-like responses, antibody responses, or a combination of both, that correlate with protection from tick-borne disease (TBD). It may be that this novel approach will accelerate anti-tick and TBD vaccine development by informing the vaccine candidate selection process.
Moreover, functional genomic screens involving inhibitory RNA are expected to identify novel pharmaco-therapeutic targets for disrupting tick feeding and pathogen transmission. In addition to continued work on methodology development at the University of Rhode Island (URI), the project will also use a series of experiential training workshops at SAU to train Pakistani faculty researchers and students in the cutting-edge techniques needed to build and advance an appropriate molecular biology capacity that can be applied to various programmes for preventing tick-transmitted diseases in Pakistan.
Dr Mather and his colleagues at URI will continue their studies on vaccine and small molecular targets to disrupt feeding of black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and transmission of the agents causing Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. Dr Arijo and his fellow researchers at SAU will (1) develop TBD surveillance and assessment capabilities to identify and prioritise vector tick species in Sindh province; (2) establish a capacity at SAU to conduct TBD diagnostics using rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) assays without requiring specialised biocontainment facilities; and (3) focus vaccine and pharmaceutical discovery research on important Pakistani tick species identified by the activities described in aims 1 and 2.
Researchers from the University of Rhode Island's Center for Vector-Borne Disease are teaming with colleagues from Pakistan to help the south Asian nation address its growing tick problem.
"Unlike in Rhode Island where abundant deer tick populations cause alarming numbers of Lyme disease cases in humans, one of the major tick-related problems in Pakistan is the impact of tick-transmitted diseases on livestock," said URI Entomology Professor Thomas Mather, director of the Center.
"In Pakistan, ticks also transmit a virus to humans known as CCHF, sometimes called the Asian Ebola virus because of its contagious and deadly similarity to African Ebola."
The project is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded $6.9 million U.S.-Pakistan Science and Technology Cooperative Program, which provided a $290,000 grant to the URI researchers. The Higher Education Commission in Pakistan provided matching funds. The grants will help establish a molecular entomology laboratory in Pakistan, and a research and training program focused on anti-tick vaccine development similar to one at URI.
"Pakistan is an agricultural country in which livestock play an important part, so if we have even a modest tick infestation, it can result in a significant loss of meat and milk production and a negative impact on the economy," explained Abdullah Arijo, associate professor of Parasitology at Sindh Agricultural University and the lead Pakistani researcher on the project. "Veterinary pathogens transmitted by ticks especially threaten the livelihood of rural Pakistanis."
Arijo said that 75 percent of the residents of his province are farmers that rely on one or two buffaloes and a small flock of goats to feed their family. Farmers currently apply insecticides to their animals and release poultry into their fields to feed on the ticks, but tick numbers remain high. The Pakistani researcher spent a month this fall at URI to learn how Mather and his team are addressing the tick problem in Rhode Island while also gaining hands-on experience with the high-tech equipment and methods Mather and URI Assistant Professor Shahid Karim are using to discover an anti-tick vaccine.
"It has been a very beneficial experience for me here, to see the infrastructure in the lab and learn the protocols used for developing a vaccine," said Arijo, whose research also includes creation of detection kits for tick pathogens.
When Arijo returned to Pakistan in late November, he planned to purchase the equipment used in the URI labs and begin training his staff and other researchers in its use. "Dr Arijo will then be able to use the same techniques and methodology in his research that we use here, making it easier for us to work together," Karim explained. "And we will be able to continue helping him with any technical issues that may arise in his work."