Molecular characterization of Streptococcus suis isolates recovered from Ontario nursery pigs between 2013 and 2018: Towards development of an effective vaccine - Ontario Pork - Recently Funded Research
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
    

Recently Funded Research

Ontario Pork has a call for research proposals once a year. These projects were approved for funding by the board on recommendation of the research committee. If you have questions or need further information about the research posted here please contact Jessica Fox at [email protected]


Recently Funded Research

Molecular characterization of Streptococcus suis isolates recovered from Ontario nursery pigs between 2013 and 2018: Towards development of an effective vaccine

Molecular characterization of Streptococcus suis isolates recovered from Ontario nursery pigs between 2013 and 2018: Towards development of an effective vaccine

Project 19-005 - Lead Researcher: Dr. Vahab Farzan, University of Guelph

Streptococcus suis (S.suis) -related diseases are among the most common infectious problems on Ontario swine farms, resulting in decreased performance, increased drug use, nursery mortality, and welfare concerns. S. suis is a common bacterial inhabitant of the tonsils and nasal cavities of healthy pigs, and although it may reside in the pig gastro-intestinal tract, it is unclear whether it can reach the bloodstream via the intestines. Previous work by this researcher has isolated several hundred S. suis isolates from various samples including nasal cavities, tonsil, blood, meninges as well as GI tract from pigs both with clinical signs of infection and healthy pigs on Ontario swine farms. The researcher proposes to use whole genome sequencing to determine the molecular characteristics of 400 samples and compare the genetic differences between the various sample types, between known and unknown strains of S. suis and between healthy pigs and those with clinical signs of S. suis. The project will apply these advanced analytical methods to help identify the most important virulence-associated-factors and use this knowledge in an attempt to develop a universal vaccine for S. suis in pigs.

 
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