Campylobacter Control Campaign

Diarrhoeal disease remains a major threat to global health, especially for children in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Among the most common bacterial causes, Campylobacter is greatly under-reported and declining antibiotic effectiveness against these organisms is a serious ECDC and WHO concern. Livestock spillover and the chronic cycle of human re-infection will continue to cause worldwide morbidity and mortality, and the key challenge is to link genome, antigen and infection source data to develop livestock vaccination programs. Our international team will address fundamental and applied research questions necessary to design, evaluate, and implement effective vaccines against antimicrobial resistant (AMR) Campylobacter in the food production chain. We will focus on 4 main areas. First, we will develop novel (meta)genomics and bioinformatics approaches and establish local capacity for monitoring enteropathogen source/sink dynamics. Second, we will conduct pathogen panproteomics to identify target antigens within problematic strains. Third, integrating omics data and modelling approaches we will digitally engineer optimized vaccines. Finally, we will build capacity within partner countries to produce and test low-cost glycoconjugate livestock vaccines that simultaneously protect against Campylobacter and Salmonella. Our coordinated reverse vaccinology approach brings much needed global development capacity to those with the greatest need.