A postgraduate veterinary sciences student has been given a grant of £80,000 to research the possibility of producing a red mite vaccine for use in laying hens. The student will be under the supervision of Damer Blake, a senior lecturer in molecular parasitology at the Royal Veterinary College and both will be supported by Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh.
Red mites are currently a real pest in the poultry industry due to the threat they pose to egg production. Estimates place the loss caused by red mites to the poultry industry at £110 million per year.
Some are worried that the parasite is increasingly resistant to treatment methods and because there are fewer available products for prevention and control, the red mite is becoming an unnecessary nuisance to poultry farmers.
The grant has been made available by the British Egg Marketing Board, and the research will attempt to find effective immunoprotective antigens, and is set to start in October.