Proteins May Pave Way to Cow Vaccine, University of Florida Study

Genetic analysis may hold the key to finding an effective vaccine against a tick-borne pathogen that costs the U.S. cattle industry as much as $300 million a year. Even more devastating in developing countries, bovine anaplasmosism can cause animals to develop a fever, have difficulty breathing, and become anemic. Thirty percent of the animals that contract it die. In the journal Vaccine, veterinary scientists report sequencing the genes of multiple strains of the bacteria from across North America to identify common substances that could be candidates for vaccine development.