Overview of research projects

Funding: DFG, 329.905 EUR

Project Details:
The VIPER research and training program will cover the global chain of events involved in virus emergence, all the way from virus discovery, isolation, molecular characterization, surveillance, and pathogenesis, towards animal and public health impact and intervention strategies including new approaches for prevention and control.

The VIPER research projects are subdivided into three pillars:

virus discovery, host range and transmission
virus-host cell interactions and pathogenesis, and
immune interference and intervention strategies.

Funding: Elanco, 20.000 EUR

Project Details:
In recent years, the incidence of Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has increased in areas that are not considered official risk areas. In Germany, most of these areas are located in southern Germany, however, in the beginning of 2019, the National Institute of Public Health (Robert-Koch-Institut) declared a district in the Northern Germ federal state Lower Saxony as official risk area. In order to better assess the TBE risk for humans and animals in Lower Saxony and to obtain information on the localisation of natural foci, sera from livestock, pet and wild animals from Lower Saxony will be tested for TBE antibodies. Serum collection will particularly include districts in which human TBE cases have occurred.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. U. Nagel-Kohl, LAVES, Hannover

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Dobler, Nationales Konsiliarlabor für FSME, München

Funding: Europäische Innovationspartnerschaft "Produktivität und Nachhaltigkeit in der Landwirtschaft" (EIP Agri), 272.300 EUR

Project Details:
Existing ventilation systems in open barns always pose challenges for turkey fatteners, especially in the cold seasons. In order to ensure a sufficient influx of fresh air, the blinds in open barns must be opened even in cold, damp weather. With this form of gravity ventilation, the cold, moist air enters directly into the animal area. As a result, the risk for the occurrence of respiratory diseases and the development of damp litter increases. Therefore, within the framework of this project, the use of a new type of ventilation system in open barns is to be tested in cooperation between turkey fatteners, consultants and science. By modifying existing ventilation systems in open barns, the input of cold supply air is to be reduced without causing a deterioration of the barn climate. In addition, "drinking bars" will be set up in a second step. This restructuring of the barn interior is intended to create larger resting areas for the animals. At the same time, the aim is to reduce the area where wet litter can occur due to increased water entry.

Cooperation Partners:

Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen

PAL Stalleinrichtungen GmbH

Praxisbetriebe

Funding: Europäische Union, 291.966 EUR

Project Details:
Im Zuge der Globalisierung etablieren sich Arten zunehmend außerhalb ihres ursprünglichen Verbreitungsgebiets. Solche Arten werden als invasiv bezeichnet, wenn sie in ihren neuen Habitaten die Biodiversität bedrohen oder wirtschaftlichen Schaden anrichten. In der EU-Verordnung Nr. 1143/2014 zu gebietsfremden invasiven Arten wurden Maßnahmen zur Prävention von Einbringung und zum Management von bereits etablierten Arten festgelegt und 2017 im Bundesnaturschutzgesetz umgesetzt. Auf einer Unionsliste werden invasive Arten von EU-weiter Bedeutung geführt: unter anderem Nutria (Myocastor coypus) und Bisam (Ondatra zibethicus). Beide Arten sind semiaquatische Säugetiere, die ursprünglich aus Süd- bzw. Nordamerika stammen und sich in Europa durch Auswilderungen im 20. Jahrhundert ansiedeln konnten. Die Tiere sind in ganz Deutschland etabliert und verbreiten sich zunehmend auch in den Niederlanden und Belgien. Sie graben Erdbauten an Ufern pflanzenreicher Gewässer und fressen Ufervegetation, Feldfrüchte oder auch Muscheln. Ihre Schadwirkung kann seltene Tier- und Pflanzenarten, Wasserbauanlagen und landwirtschaftliche Nutzflächen betreffen.
Mit dem Projekt Life-MICA (Management of Invasive Coypu and MuskrAt in Europe) haben sich Institutionen aus Deutschland, Belgien und den Niederlanden in einem Projekt des EU-Life-Programms zusammengeschlossen, um grenzübergreifende Managementstrategien für Nutria und Bisam zu entwickeln und innovative Methoden zur Populationskontrolle zu testen (Projektlaufzeit 2019 bis 2023). Auf deutscher Seite sind das Institut für Terrestrische und Aquatische Wildtierforschung der Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover und die Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen beteiligt. In mehreren Projektgebieten in den drei teilnehmenden Ländern werden Gewässerproben auf das Vorhandensein von DNA-Material von Nutria und Bisam untersucht (environmental-DNA) und Kamerafallen aufgestellt, die Aufnahmen der beiden Arten selektieren, um eine Besiedlung möglichst frühzeitig zu erkennen. Durch genetische Untersuchungen von gefangenen Tieren und Bestimmung von Verwandtschaftsverhältnissen zwischen Populationen soll außerdem die Identifikation von Zuwanderungsrouten gelingen. Darüber hinaus werden in den Projektgebieten Lebendfallen getestet, die nur bei den Zieltierarten Nutria und Bisam schließen und dadurch Beifänge geschützter Tierarten wie Biber und Fischotter verhindern. Zusätzlich vernetzt sich Life-MICA mit anderen Initiativen auf dem Gebiet der invasiven Arten und schafft durch Öffentlichkeitsarbeit ein Bewusstsein für die Problematik. Dadurch ermöglicht es die Basis für ein langfristig erfolgreiches Konzept zum Populationsmanagement für Nutria und Bisam in Europa.

Cooperation Partners:

Waterschap Revierenland

Funding: DFG, 329.905 EUR

Project Details:
The VIPER research and training program will cover the global chain of events involved in virus emergence, all the way from virus discovery, isolation, molecular characterization, surveillance, and pathogenesis, towards animal and public health impact and intervention strategies including new approaches for prevention and control.

The VIPER research projects are subdivided into three pillars:

virus discovery, host range and transmission
virus-host cell interactions and pathogenesis, and
immune interference and intervention strategies.

Results:

1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35491822/

(Geiselhardt F, Peters M, Jo WK, Schadenhofer A, Puff C, Baumgärtner W, Kydyrmanov A, Kuiken T, Piewbang C, Techangamsuwan S, Osterhaus ADME, Beineke A, Ludlow M. Development and Validation of a Pan-Genotypic Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription-PCR Assay To Detect Canine Distemper Virus and Phocine Distemper Virus in Domestic Animals and Wildlife. J Clin Microbiol. 2022 May 18;60(5):e0250521. doi: 10.1128/jcm.02505-21. Epub 2022 May 2. PMID: 35491822; PMCID: PMC9116185.)

 

2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36038706/

(Geiselhardt F, Peters M, Kleinschmidt S, Chludzinski E, Stoff M, Ludlow M, Beineke A. Neuropathologic and molecular aspects of a canine distemper epizootic in red foxes in Germany. Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 29;12(1):14691. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19023-9. PMID: 36038706; PMCID: PMC9424316.)

Funding: DFG, 329.905 EUR

Project Details:
The VIPER research and training program will cover the global chain of events involved in virus emergence, all the way from virus discovery, isolation, molecular characterization, surveillance, and pathogenesis, towards animal and public health impact and intervention strategies including new approaches for prevention and control.

The VIPER research projects are subdivided into three pillars:

virus discovery, host range and transmission
virus-host cell interactions and pathogenesis, and
immune interference and intervention strategies.

Funding: DFG, 329.905 EUR

Project Details:
The VIPER research and training program will cover the global chain of events involved in virus emergence, all the way from virus discovery, isolation, molecular characterization, surveillance, and pathogenesis, towards animal and public health impact and intervention strategies including new approaches for prevention and control.

The VIPER research projects are subdivided into three pillars:

virus discovery, host range and transmission
virus-host cell interactions and pathogenesis, and
immune interference and intervention strategies.

Results:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/5/23-0172_article

Funding: DFG, 265.456 EUR

Project Details:
Charakterisierung ausgewählter Viren, die in Wildreservoirs identifiziert wurden, Bewertung ihres Risikos für Haustiere und Menschen.

Funding: DFG, 256.546 EUR

Project Details:
Identifizierung und Charakterisierung neuartiger Vogel-Metapneumoviren von Wildvögeln, die eine Bedrohung für Hausgeflügel und Säugetiere darstellen.

Funding: DFG, 335.000 EUR

Project Details:
The equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is the most important eye disease in horses, but the exact pathogenesis is still not fully understood. Furthermore, the recurrent uveitis is also found in human as well as almost all domesticated animals. Since autoreactive antibodies are detectedable in diseased horses, the classical ERU is considered as an autoimmune disease. The classical form of ERU is characterized by an acute serofibrinous and plasmacellular inflammation of the ciliary body, iris, choroidea and other eye structures. The disease often results into a chronic form by recurring intervallic relapses. The impulses lead to a progressive destruction of intraocular structures and finally lead to blindness.
Besides autoimmune processes, Leptospira infections are discussed to contribute to ERU in humans, horses, dogs and cattle. In over 60% of ERU-diseased horses Leptospira interrogans has been detected in the VBF using PCR or microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Additionally, the microbiological culture of Leptospira interrogans from VBF has been proven in further studies. Nevertheless, the role of the pathogen in the pathogenesis of ERU is still controversially discussed. Since the eye is protected via special barriers as one of the immune-privileged compartments in the body, the immigration of protective immune cells into the eye is highly regulated. A damage of the blood retina barrier is a typical pathological feature of ERU and often leads to a large number of migrating immune cells into the eye. The question arises whether the barrier is disrupted by infectious agents such as Leptospira, or whether the infection is a consequence of the immune-mediated pathogenesis of the ERU. These questions have not been fully clarified yet. However, irrespective of the Leptospira detection in ERU-diseased horses, the pathogenesis of ERU seems to be a highly complex altered immune reaction of the eye. Interestingly, in some populations an accumulation of different leukocyte populations as granulocytes can also be found in ERU patients, which have been histologically detected in the retina. However, especially the role of neutrophil granulocytes in ERU is still unclear and the focus of this project.

Results:

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in the Pathogenesis of Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU).

Fingerhut L, Ohnesorge B, von Borstel M, Schumski A, Strutzberg-Minder K, Mörgelin M, Deeg CA, Haagsman HP, Beineke A, von Köckritz-Blickwede M, de Buhr N.

Cells. 2019 Nov 27;8(12). pii: E1528. doi: 10.3390/cells8121528.

 

Fingerhut L, Dolz G, de Buhr N. 2020. What Is the Evolutionary Fingerprint in Neutrophil Granulocytes? Int J Mol Sci 21:1-37.

 

Fingerhut L, Yücel L, Struzberg-Minder K, von Köckritz-Blickwede M, Ohnesorge B, de Buhr N. 2022. Ex Vivo and In Vitro Analysis Identify a Detrimental Impact of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps on Eye Structures in Equine Recurrent Uveitis. Front Immunol 13:1-20.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Cornelia Deeg, Philipps Universität Marburg, FB Medizin, Experimentelle Ophthalmologie, Marburg

Prof. Dr. Andreas Beineke, Institute for Pathology, TiHo

Dr. Katrin Strutzberg-Minder, IVD, Hannover, Germany

Prof. Dr. Henk Haagsman, Department of Infectious Diseases & Immunology, Division Molecular Host Defence, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Netherlands