Development of novel diagnostics and prophylactic's for poultry pathogens in Ethiopia

Poultry production contributes significantly to Ethiopian farmers' livelihoods and the national economy. It is an essential source of domestic food and nutrition security while providing income for nearly 80% of Ethiopians. However, poultry production is constrained by several infectious diseases which lead to high mortality and morbidity of chickens, high medication costs, and loss in production and market. It can also pose a risk to public health through zoonoses. Early diagnosis of pathogens is a crucial step in the control and prevention of such diseases. However, diagnosis of poultry pathogens is usually based on different serological and molecular methods where most of which are time-consuming and/or require expensive laboratory equipment. The aim of this project is to isolate and characterize the major economically important viral poultry diseases, to assess their epidemiology by developing Spatio-temporal disease outbreak models, and to develop novel multiplex diagnostic using phage display technique and recombinant vector vaccines against them