A.R. Gray
I would like to say a few words to introduce this workshop and first I have to say that we have been thinking about it for almost two and a half years. There has been a gradually increasing feeling that we need to review our work on the antigens of parasites in relation to what others; are doing, and to do so, not in a massive gathering, but in a much smaller group of people. I hope we have a small enough, intimate group here to make a success of the workshop.
As an introduction I would like to say just a little about the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases - ILRAD - as an organization. ILRAD is one of 13 international agricultural research centres funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) which is itself composed of a consortium of government and other agencies. These provide money for research on food crops and livestock with the objective of improving world food supplies, particularly in developing countries. In most of the international agricultural research centres this is to be achieved through research on food crops, but in two of the centres, ILRAD and the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), through research on livestock. ILRAD's aim is to identify better methods for the control of economically important diseases, particularly the diseases caused by tsetse-transmitted trypanosomes and tick-borne Theileria parasites. Although we have been in existence for the last 12 years, we have in fact, been operational for about 8 years and by the end of this year we hope to have a full complement of 41 scientists.
ILRAD's approach to its two target diseases is basically immunological and this approach has been agreed upon by the Board of Directors and the CGIAR. We would like to identify parasite antigens which induce high levels of immunity. In theileriosis, despite some parasite strain variation, we can stimulate high levels of protective immunity but we have to use whole live organisms to do so. We can also create immunity against trypanosomiasis but the immunity is restricted, in practice, to protection against organisms of the infecting genotype. In both instances, we want something broader and better in the way of protection, so that is what we want to consider in this workshop. Our primary objective is to identify, characterized and produce trypanosomal and theilerial antigens which can be used to prevent infection 'in livestock. To help us with this review of our progress, we have invited you, as extinguished scientists with experience with antigens of other parasites, to consider what we have been doing at ILRAD and what is being done elsewhere. Considerable work has been done in parasite antigenicity in parasites other than trypanosomes and Theileria, which could be of assistance to us. We also invited you here so that we could learn about your work and perhaps see new opportunities of applying your findings to the problems of trypanosomiasis and theileriosis.
Although we are concentrating on finding and applying suitable protective antigens, we are also interested in improving current methods of control such as diagnostic tests or epidemiological surveys, and perhaps there are also possibilities related to research on pathogenesis.
We hope that in return for sharing your wisdom and experience with us in our efforts against trypanosomiasis and theileriosis, you will learn from what is happening here and perhaps be able to incorporate it into your own programs. At the end of the week I hope that the ILRAD staff members who have been identified as rapporteurs for each session will be able to produce a report and recommendations which will be useful to us all. If we can achieve that, I am sure that we will have had a good meeting.
