Our Research:

Why probiotics?

Probiotics are hugely popular for promoting gut health and for treating a variety of internal and external infections in humans.  Equally, probiotics have a vital future in animal health.

Micro-organisms have evolved to combat competitors in their own environment, effectively altering the host microbiome to their benefit.

Probiotics confer a health benefit to the host animal by establishing a living colony of micro-organisms that are able to modify the natural microbiome to improve skin defence and immune response.

Pro-TICK®:

Pro-Tick® is a novel concept that applies the well-established science of human ‘inner-health’ probiotics to the ‘outer-health’ of cattle hides by boosting the animals’ innate resistance to pest invasion.  The concept of Pro-Tick® is to develop a formulation containing a community of beneficial microbes, which will be applied to the hide of cattle to give a life-long shield of protection against cattle pests.

Pro-Tick® is aimed at improving animal health and welfare, and providing better environmental outcomes.

Progress:

The Pro-Tick® project started in late 2017.  We are in the early stages of identifying the most suitable microbial communities to target cattle tick and buffalo fly.

The first proof-of-concept studies in cattle are expected to start in late 2018.