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Transforming Agriculture
Optimising a Ugandan-made anti-tick vaccine
The optimal dose for a locally developed tick vaccine has been established — and a manufacturer engaged to mass-produce it.
Ticks make cattle-keeping ruinously expensive, and the chemicals that control them are failing. A home-grown vaccine could change the economics — if the dose is right.
The challenge
Tick-borne diseases discourage investment in cattle and rob farmers of draught power and income. Control depends on chemical acaricides that are expensive for pastoral communities — and ticks are increasingly resistant to them.
An affordable, effective vaccine is the alternative, but its dose, adjuvant and delivery route all had to be optimised first.
The approach
The team systematically tested combinations of dose, adjuvant and route to find the formulation that triggered the strongest, safest immune response in cattle — measuring antibody levels and monitoring the animals for side effects after immunisation and a booster.
A 100µg dose with a 2% Alhydrogel adjuvant proved both effective and safe — and a manufacturer is engaged.
Results & impact
A 100µg dose of the immunogen combined with a 2% Alhydrogel adjuvant emerged as both immunogenic and safe, with the least effect on the animals' body temperature.
The team recommends taking that formulation into a field clinical trial, and a manufacturer has been engaged toward mass production — a concrete step toward cutting Uganda's dependence on failing chemical acaricides.
This research was funded by the Government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund — one of a growing directory of projects turning national investment into real-world results.
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