Research

Project Details:
The monitoring and evaluation of emotions in animals is of increasing interest due to the public awareness on anima, welfare but also because laboratory animals serve as model species for the development of psychological drugs. The reliable evaluation of emotions is still a scientific challenge, as emotions are not only the result of automatic physiological reactions, but also underline cognitive evaluation processes (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Thus, the emotional perception of a situation can depend on individual personality or experience. In order to be able to assess animal welfare, it is important to develop reliable methods for recording the emotional state of an animal. Although it is possible to determine an animal's condition using physiological measurements (e.g. blood sampling, implants to measure the heart rate), these measures are invasive and do not provide any information about the emotional valence of the condition (an increased heart rate occurs with both negative and positive emotions). An alternative is offered by behavioural tests that can be used to test the personality of animals as well as the emotional cognitive evaluation of a situation. One way of testing cognitive judgement is the ?Judgement Bias Task?. The animal learns to distinguish between a positive and a less positive stimulus and to react accordingly. They are then presented with an unknown ambivalent stimulus. Their reaction makes it possible to assess whether an animal is ?optimistic? (selects as with a positive stimulus) or ?pessimistic? (selects as with a positive stimulus). These findings will allow a better assessment of emotions in animals and can later be used to investigate the impact of different housing conditions, environmental enrichment or pharmacological effects on an animal's emotions.

Funding: H. Wilhelm Schaumann Stiftung, 57.600 EUR

Project Details:
Enterococcus cecorum (EC) is an increasingly relevant bacterial pathogen in broiler chickens, and the disease is globally widespread. Affected birds typically exhibit lameness in the second half of the production cycle due to inflammation of the thoracic vertebrae and hip joints. Mortality rates can exceed 10%, and culling rates and medication use increase significantly. EC infections are considered a major cause of the high frequency of antimicrobial treatments in broiler production. Additionally, they represent a significant animal welfare issue, as bone inflammations are highly likely to cause severe pain.

Management practices such as antibiotic therapies or prophylactic use can be problematic, as they promote resistance and contradict antibiotic stewardship principles. Therefore, alternative strategies are urgently needed, including vaccination programs, breeding approaches, management measures in parent stock farms and hatcheries, as well as the use of feed additives. However, scientific evidence confirming the effectiveness of these methods is still lacking.

Studies show that EC can survive in the environment for at least six months and can still be detected in certain areas of poultry house equipment even after cleaning and disinfection. Since only a subset of strains is pathogenic, targeted decontamination of parent stock farms, hatcheries, and broiler facilities could help contain the spread of the pathogen. Effective cleaning and disinfection are essential. In practice, disinfectants such as aldehydes, quaternary ammonium compounds, cresols, oxidative agents, and organic acids are commonly used. Physical methods such as UV irradiation or ozone fumigation are also applied. The effectiveness of these measures depends on factors such as the correct concentration of active substances, application technique, removal of organic residues, and structural conditions of the facility. Deficiencies in these areas can lead to pathogen persistence and subsequent infections.

For other Enterococcus species, reduced sensitivity to chemical disinfectants has been reported for certain strains. However, no corresponding data are currently available for EC. Clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium from hospitals have also shown decreasing sensitivity to alcohol-based disinfectants.
Research Objectives:

-Investigation of EC sensitivity to various biocides
-Analysis of the effectiveness of UV irradiation as a physical disinfection method

The findings from this study aim to optimize disinfection strategies in poultry farming, reduce antibiotic use, and thereby improve both animal health and welfare.

Funding: EU Commission, 1.100.900 EUR

Project Details:
Work programme 2025-2027 of the EU Reference Laboratory for Classical Swine Fever

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Christoph Staubach (FLI Riems)

Funding: Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands, 174.600 EUR

Project Details:
Pinnipeds are frequently infected with respiratory nematodes commonly referred to as lungworms. Distinctively, lungworms are particularly prevalent pathogens of young harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Northern Europe. In the Netherlands, young harbour seals frequently strand on human accessible areas and display severe clinical symptoms associated with lungworm infection; as a result, they are often admitted to the nearest rehabilitation centre for treatment. Currently, the number of lungworm patients admitted for rehabilitation is limited for conservation purposes, however, there is a lack of clear criteria regarding the selection of those lungworm patients that should receive care. Critically, there remains an absence of clinical parameters that directly indicate the disease progression; thus veterinarians lack the clinical tools to determine the severity of the infection, and consequently, the likelihood of survival. Furthermore, there is currently insufficient data regarding the fate of rehabilitated lungworm patients post release. Therefore, to prevent potentially unnecessary admissions of lungworm patients, further insights regarding the severity of infection and post-release survival rates are required.

This research project will employ a multiple strategy approach with the overarching aim to develop a triage system for seal rehabilitation centres to assess prognosis for seals either directly at the point of stranding or upon admission. Through comprehensive investigations, this project will provide unprecedented insights into the pathology of lungworm-infected harbour seals, identify clinical parameters associated with survival to and after release, as well as assess the behaviour and survival of seals post release from rehabilitation using telemetry devices. Ultimately, if applicable, this project will result in the development of a prognostic tool to guide the selection of lungworm-infected harbour seals most suitable for rehabilitation. This project, led by the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) in collaboration with three major Dutch seal rehabilitation centres (Aseal Stellendam, Sealcentre Pieterburen and Ecomare), as well as Utrecht University and Wageningen Marine Research, is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands.

Funding: QS-Wissenschaftsfonds, 29.830 EUR

Project Details:
Infectious diseases pose a serious threat to animal health. There are only two legally required vaccinations in the livestock poultry sector in Germany (Newcastle disease and zoonotic salmonella). In the EU, vaccination against avian influenza was prohibited for many years, as the disease could be controlled by biosecurity and eradication measures. A new legal regulation (VO/EU 2023/361) allows vaccination to be used as part of the control measures. In order to rule out the risks of vaccination, it must be accompanied by close monitoring. According to current data, this will be very costly and may have to be borne proportionately by the livestock owner. In addition to the reduction in animal suffering, a further impact factor is the emotional consequences for the people involved in animal husbandry and care in the event of a complete depopulation of livestock in the event of an animal epidemic. Against this background, our project aims to assess the practical feasibility of vaccination against HPAI in livestock poultry farming. The aim is to record what wishes farmers have regarding the possible implementation of vaccination against HPAI, under what circumstances this can/should happen, what they need for implementation, what support they expect from veterinary medicine and the authorities.The task of this study is therefore to determine, through quantitative and qualitative empirical analyses, which measures are particularly effective against classical avian influenza. What are the prerequisites for successful implementation by the farmers?

Project Details:
The peptide hormone Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 (FGF21) has been identified as a major metabolic regulator to orchestrate various adaptations during periods of dysbolic states. It has gained interest over the past years regarding the metabolic challenges of early lactation in cattle. The study aims to identify stimulators/inhibitors of FGF21 using a primary hepatocyte-cellculture, by mimicking only specific stressors occurring during the mentioned period of early lactation and therefore facilitates determination of the underlying mechanisms. T

Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), 179.695 EUR

Project Details:
The study of animal immune systems in their natural environment is gaining increasing importance. In addition to naturally occurring factors influencing the immune system, the growing environmental stressors to which animals are exposed highlight the significance of the research field of ecoimmunology. This is particularly true for mosquitoes, the most important vectors of various pathogens, whose development, immune system, and vector competence are strongly influenced by environmental conditions. A key environmental factor is exposure to pollutants, which have become increasingly prevalent due to their widespread use.

This project focuses on analyzing mosquito breeding sites, assessing their contamination with various pollutants, and investigating the interaction between pollutant exposure and mosquito vector competence. In the first work package, field samples are collected and analyzed, and the most common pollutants are tested in laboratory experiments for their effects on mosquito larvae. Dose-response experiments are conducted to determine sublethal doses of these substances for use in subsequent experiments. In the second work package, behavioral assays are performed to assess oviposition preferences of female mosquitoes in pollutant-contaminated water samples. Larvae are reared in the test waters defined in Work Package 1 to investigate the impact of pollutant exposure on their development. Additionally, transcriptome analyses are carried out to explore changes in gene expression in larvae resulting from pollutant exposure.

The third work package investigates the vector competence of mosquito larvae for West Nile virus (WNV) after exposure to different pollutants during development. Both WNV-infected larvae reared in pollutant-containing water are examined in the adult stage for their ability to transmit the virus to blood meals, and uninfected larvae are reared in the same test waters, then infected as adults to measure viral load in saliva and viral kinetics. The findings from these studies aim to enhance our understanding of the interactions between environmental pollution and vector competence.

Cooperation Partners:

RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Institut für Umweltwissenschaften

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) , 322.642 EUR

Project Details:
The proposed research project aims to develop iron-based materials with an antibacterial effect as innovative implant materials to prevent implant infections. Infections counteract the benefits of the implants and are associated with considerable patients burdens and follow-up costs. They are connected with biofilm growth on the implant surface, which protects the causative germs from the immune system and therapies. Even with high medical standards, an infection cannot be completely avoided. Thus, among others, the increasing spread of multi-resistant germs endangers progress in medical technology. Most of the currently used inert implant materials have been developed without considering the problem of infection. Therefore, various approaches to modify implants are increasingly being addressed, e.g. by releasing anti-bacterially effective silver ions. The scope of the proposed research project is to create near-surface phases of a degradable silver alloy within an inert iron-based implant material for an adapted release of silver to prevent infection. Low doses are sufficient as the ions are released directly at the target site thus, bypassing the shielding effect of the biofilm. The complete insolubility of iron and silver in each other enables the setting of these silver phases but makes processing challenging. Powder metallurgical processes, such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), enable the processing of powder mixtures of the individual material components. Thus, LPBF is applied to set adapted phases of a degradable, functional silver alloy at the surface of iron-based, inert material 316L, resulting in a targeted release of silver ions. Due to particle release from the alloy, biocompatibility studies are examined with different cell types like primary osteoblasts and cell lines (fibroblasts and endothelial cells) to study inflammation parameters and anomalies of cell metabolism. Furthermore, co-incubation experiments with bacteria and cells are planned to study the antibacterial effect in various infection scenarios.

Results:

https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/538437364?language=en

Project Details:
As part of chemical synthesis and subsequent modern spectroscopic studies, targeted modifications of ammonium iron hexacyanoferrate are being investigated.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Damian A. Motz, Leibniz Universität Hannover

Funding: Associations, 54.000 EUR