Bobcat fever
Bobcat Fever (feline cytauxzoonosis) is a serious disease of cats that is caused by a protozoan parasite, Cytauxzoon felis, found in the red blood cells of an infected bobcat or cat. It is transmitted when a tick feeding on an infected animal ingests the infected red blood cells then injects the parasite into another cat or bobcat when it feeds on that animal. Domestic cats often become very ill with severe anemia and may die from the infection. Morris Animal Foundation is supporting research in Dr. Patricia Holman’s Hemoparasitology Research Laboratory to develop cultures of the parasite to facilitate studies that will lead to better diagnostic tests, treatment, and vaccine development. |
Bovine viral diarrhea virus vaccine development program
 The American cattle industry accounts for about 40% of the total market value of U.S. agriculture. However, shipping fever (also known as bovine respiratory disease complex, or BRDC) causes more than a billion dollars in losses annually, due to calf loss and treatment costs. There is a vaccine for one of the pathogens, Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV), that can cause shipping fever, but it is not very effective in newborn calves. The goal of this project, therefore, is to develop a BVDV vaccine that is safe, affordable, and effective in newborn calves.
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National Science Foundation funded research at the college uses the nurse shark as a model vertebrate immune system to determine the natural history and engineering possibilities of our lymphocyte antigen receptors.
Humans have been raising cows for their meat, hides and milk for millennia. Now it appears that the cow immune system also has something to offer. A study of an extraordinary family of cow antibodies points to new ways to make human medicines. 
