TickTools: Development of tools to monitor and control tick-borne diseases of humans and livestock

Tick-borne diseases cause a significant health burden on both the human and domestic livestock populations within the United Kingdom (UK). This includes the recently detected tick-borne encephalitis virus, a common cause of encephalitis in humans across Europe, and the livestock disease caused by louping ill virus. Both are types of flaviviruses and are closely related, and both are now endemic within the UK. Many questions remain concerning the biology of these viruses and there are key gaps in understanding virus distribution within tick vector populations, fundamental questions on flavivirus virus pathogenesis and a clear lack of serological tests that can distinguish between antibodies to either virus in order to tell which is circulating in the different host species. To address these gaps, the TickTools project aims to conduct a series of studies, each coordinated by one of the project partners. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) will conduct field surveys for adult ticks from across the UK and determine the microbiological make-up present within each sample, which will identify all viruses and bacteria present. This approach will also capture the genome of each tick that can be used to assess the relationships between tick-populations within the country, which in turn could reveal the interactions between these populations and how ticks, and their pathogens disperse. APHA will support the University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) in establishing a virus infection model to determine the pathogenesis of tick-borne flaviviruses. This will be achieved by comparing the virulent virus with an attenuated virus. This approach will identify potential therapeutic targets for prevention and control of flavivirus infection with the aim of preventing the most severe manifestations of virus infection. From these studies, CVR will supply organ tissue (spleen) to the University of Nottingham (UoN) to support their development of scFv antibodies that can be used to further study both viruses but also have potential as treatments for people or pets that become infected. The UoN will also develop antigen (peptide) panels that will discriminate between serological responses to infection with either TBEV or LIV. Using assays developed by UoN, serological surveillance in both human and animal populations will be possible.