January 2001 California Thoroughbred

The UC Davis Center for Equine Health (CEH) is pleased to announce the inauguration of a new research initiative to combat infectious disease - The Bernice Barbour Communicable Disease Laboratory (BBCDL). The Bernice Barbour Foundation, Inc., of Hackensack, New Jersey, awarded the CEH with a four year, $1.2 million grant to develop a unique program of investigation into the mechanisms by which communicable diseases are propagated and transmitted throughout the world.

Edward R. Atwill, DVM, MPVM, PhD: Dr. Rob Atwill is the section leader and chief researcher for investigations related to the survival and transport mechanisms of pathologic microorganisms within the environment. He is an internationally recognized epidemiologist who has expertise in environmental animal health, waterborne zoonotic diseases and infectious disease risk assessment.

Medical scientists have become increasingly alarmed at the world-wide threat infectious disease poses to the health of humans and animals. On an international basis, 30 percent of human deaths each year can be attributed to these diseases. To those of us in the United States, many of these dangerous infectious agents seem a distant threat. However, the rising importance of international commerce in food production, the continued contamination of the world's environment, and the speed of global travel result in what were once thought to be Third World diseases arriving on our doorstep with alarming frequency.

Richard L. Walker, DVM, MPVM, PhD: Dr. Rich Walker is the primary researcher and unit coordinator for investigations related to the pathogenic characteristics and host invasion mechanisms of infectious agents. Dr. Walker's position as Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at UC Davis provides him with unique access, experience and knowledge of a large repository of infectious pathogens. His insights into the dynamics of the disease process, based on daily experience with disease control, make him uniquely qualified to lead this area of investigation.

Johanna L. Watson DVM, PhD: Drs. Watson and MacLachlan are the co-leaders in the area of host defense research. Dr. Joie Watson is a professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Watson has established a reputation for excellence in equine immunological disease research and will work with others in this sub-unit to investigate the immunological and inflammatory mechanisms related to the host's defense against infection.

Dr. Jim MacLachlan: Dr. MacLachlin is a world authority on infectious diseases of viral origin and will be concentrating his efforts on studies related to the immunogenetics and inflammatory responses of animals afflicted by infectious pathogens.

Our recent problems with the West Nile virus is a perfect example of where equine health fits within the overall picture of international disease control. The horse is second only to man in the speed with which they travel to distant places and return home. The international travel of the competitive sport horse, accompanied by the inherent danger of transporting diseases which affect both themselves and other species, makes them a good model in which to study the mechanisms by which all infectious disease is produced.

The Bernice Barbour Foundation, Inc., has provided the CEH with the core funding necessary to develop a long-term research program to study 1) the means by which disease producing microbes are transmitted from place to place within our environment, 2) the methods they utilize to invade the body, and 3) how the targeted body attempts to defend itself against those attacks.

This program represents a new and unique approach to the study of pathogenic agents, not only because it will utilize the horse as its initial model, but also because it unites scientists with varying skills and backgrounds under one research umbrella to investigate the basic mechanisms by which all infectious disease is produced. Rather than choose the traditional role of studying individual diseases in isolation, this group will work as a team to find those factors common to all.

1) Microorganism's life outside the host - Researchers will determine those factors which allow a particular type of infectious microorganism (protozoa, bacteria, virus, etc.) to survive in the environment, reproduce and present itself in sufficient numbers at a specific place and time such that it is capable of infecting humans or animals. Why, for example, does a particular protozoal disease appear among human or animal populations one year, but not the next? How did the West Nile virus suddenly appear in the New York area in the summer of 1999? If researchers can answer these questions and the concepts they represent, the possibility for successful interdiction and disease prevention can be realized.

2) How pathogenic microorganisms invade humans and animals to cause disease - Researchers will delineate the means pathologic organisms use to invade the host animal's body and cause disease. BBCDL scientists will study the specific characteristics of pathogens which facilitate their ability to invade the body and cause disease. Why are they able to penetrate the physical and chemical barriers of the animal host and cause damage when other microorganisms, who are often far more numerous, are not? If these processes could be understood, new and more effective methods of biological control should follow.

3) Defense mechanisms utilized by mammals against microorganisms - Scientists will investigate those processes of the human and animal body which sometimes successfully defend against microscopic invaders and at other times, are overwhelmed and defeated. The mammalian body defends itself against disease through a complex system of immunological and inflammatory processes. The BBCDL scientists will study the body's interaction with pathogenic agents to determine how the body's own physiological mechanisms can be utilized to protect and defend itself from invasion and disease.

The Bernice Barbour Foundation, Inc., has underwritten the CEH in the development of this research program because it believes the concept of "comparative medicine" should be brought to broad application in the fight against infectious disease. The foundation supports the CEH's "mechanistic" approach to the study of infectious disease and believes that combining varying medical disciplines into one integrated unit can create a synergy of scientific thought and, therefore, a more rapid advancement of medical knowledge in this important area of human and animal health.