Animal

Research at Stellenbosch University benefit whole poultry industry

The Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch is a strong knowledge partner to the poultry industry of Southern Africa. Research, which is of great value to both producers and consumers of poultry, is done on an on-going basis. Recent research focussed on the supplementation of broiler diets with Canola oil and the way in which it can help prevent coronary heart disease in humans by reducing plasma lipids.

Caprirab: A novel dual vaccine developed for use against rabies and lumpy skin disease in the developing world.

Kate Aspden, University of Cape Town Recombinant vaccine* technology is an innovative method for producing novel vaccines for use in a wide variety of hosts. Vaccinia virus (previously used as the smallpox vaccine) has been used as a vector for producing recombinant vaccines with great success based on the knowledge gained through the smallpox epidemic. Unfortunately, with the advent of HIV, this vector is no longer safe as it can cause disseminated infections in immunocompromised individuals. Kate Aspden and her supervisor, Prof Anna-Lise Williamson, developed a recombinant rabies vaccine (...

An African Leech for use in Microsurgery in Africa

by Prof. Chris Appleton After being one of the mainstays of medical practice in Europe since the time of Hippocrates, use of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis , fell into disrepute in the second half of the 19th century but it has made a dramatic comeback in recent years! So popular was the use of H. medicinalis for draining blood ("leeching") as a cure for different kinds of disease, that over-collecting for hundreds of years in western and central Europe drove the species almost to extinction. Not surprising in view of the old hospital records cited by Adams (1988) that during 1829...

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Research at Stellenbosch University benefit whole poultry industry
Caprirab: A novel dual vaccine developed for use against rabies and lumpy skin disease in the developing world.
An African Leech for use in Microsurgery in Africa
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