Faculty of Veterinary Science
Prof NPJ Kriek, Dean
Telephone number: 012 529 8201
Fax number: 012 529 8313
E-mail address: nick.kriek@up.ac.za
Preface by the Dean
In its 'Strategic Plan for Enhancing Research (2002-2004)' the Faculty of Veterinary Science identified the need to focus its research on areas in which it has specific expertise or for which it is positioned such that it can strive for global leadership. In order to achieve this goal there is also the need to form alliances with other institutions locally and abroad to enhance the capacity of its research teams. Areas in which we have such a competitive advantage include wildlife diseases, problems of developing communities, tropical diseases and environmental issues specific to southern Africa.
Progress have been made during 2004 in all these areas. A vaccine has been developed in a THRIP-supported project to protect roan antelope, an endangered species, against a recently discovered Theileria parasite. A long-term study to develop an integrated approach for improving small scale market-oriented dairy systems in North-West province, which is funded by the FAO and IAEA, is making good progress and a phytomedicine programme investigating, inter alia, plants used in ethnic medicine has already yielded a commercial product. A breakthrough that received much publicity was the determination of the full sequence of the genome of Ehrlichia ruminantium, the causal agent of heartwater, and its annotation, in collaboration with the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and other role players. In the field of tropical diseases a strong alliance was formed with the Utrecht University and the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. One of its collaborative projects is the development of molecular diagnostic kits for tick-borne pathogens, supported by BioPAD. In the public health and environment sector diseases transmissible from animals to man, such as tuberculosis, is receiving attention.
These and other successes prove that the strategy adopted is correct and that the Faculty can confidently look towards the future and pursue its ideal of becoming international leaders in selected areas of expertise.
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