COMPLETED PROJECTS

Animals as hosts for ticks Animal husbandry could not be practised over large areas of the planet without acaricides. This persistent reliance on pesticides has led to the development of resistance in ticks against the major classes of acaricide treatments. There is a continual requirement for new types of molecules to target physiological processes that are crucial to tick survival. The development of animal health products against ticks requires hundreds of cattle, dogs, rabbits and gerbils for in vivo trials with acaricides, plac-ing the annual worldwide use of animals in acaricide research in the tens of thousands. Small mammals used in such trials may suffer from skin inflammation and anaemia, and may be submit-ted to restrictions by the Elizabethan collar inhibiting grooming behaviour. For controlled studies, dogs have to be kept in small cages, cattle are kept in isolation, in climatic boxes, where thei