Veterinarians and Pet Owners Urged to act Upon Evolving Dangers Posed by CVBDs

Monheim, Germany (ots/PRNewswire) - Leading experts from around
the world came together today to share their latest research findings
at the 6th Canine Vector Borne Disease (CVBD) forum in Nice, France
and call for greater awareness of the dangers posed to animals and
humans by these increasingly important diseases. "A number of the
CVBDs cause real suffering and even death in dogs, and many represent
a zoonotic risk. It's vital that veterinarians and pet owners
everywhere understand the seriousness of the threats posed, and take
action to prevent transmission of these diseases", said Prof. Dwight
Bowman of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University,
USA.

"Data presented here highlight the underestimation and
underreporting of serious diseases such as Tick-Borne Encephalitis
(TBE), despite their potential to threaten the life of infected
animals", according to Prof. Martin Pfeffer of the Institute of
Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health, Germany. "Like many of
the CVBDs, TBE has spread beyond its traditional home and is being
found across Europe and Asia, exposing previously unaffected
populations to this serious disease. In light of the increasing
geographical spread of diseases like TBE, veterinarians should ensure
all dogs are protected from the threat of CVBD transmission and
should consider even 'exotic' or 'rare' diseases when diagnosing
sick animals".

This theme was taken up by Prof. Luis Cardoso of the Department of
Veterinary Sciences at the University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro,
Portugal, whose group reported the first cases of clinical babesiosis
by Babesia microti-like piroplasm outside Spain. "This finding is
important as this form of babesiosis is previously unknown in
Portugal and we found not just two infected adults with a history of
travel to endemic areas, but also infection in a puppy with no
history of travel outside the country. This suggests that either the
disease is capable of being transmitted from mother to pup or that
there is now a reservoir of infection in Portugal".

Further evidence of the changing face of CVBD management came from
Dr Filipe Dantas-Torres of the Department of Veterinary Public Health
at the University of Bari, Italy, who presented data suggesting that
the common Brown Dog tick (Rhicephalus sanguineus) has the potential
to be involved in the epidemiology of leishmaniosis, a disease that
can prove fatal to dogs and humans. Dr Dantas-Torres explained, "If
our hypothesis is confirmed, we would in a next step investigate
whether ticks could also transmit Leishmania infantum to dogs which
would dramatically increase the geographical reach of leishmaniosis.
Currently however, only sand flies are proven biological vectors of
the Leishmania parasites".

According to Prof. Domenico Otranto of the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine (Universita degli Studi di Bari) Italy, "These findings
reinforce the message that tick bite and sand fly prevention through
a repellent parasiticide is a must for all dogs travelling to CVBD
endemic areas. Not just because of the threat posed to the animal
itself, but also to prevent the CVBD pathogens establishing in new,
non-endemic areas and spreading via blood-sucking parasites".

Many of the discoveries presented at this year's meeting were made
possible due to major advances in the field of molecular biology and
genomics. In his keynote address, Prof. Robin Gasser from the Faculty
of Veterinary Science of The University of Melbourne, took an
evolutionary perspective and explained how the discovery of DNA, the
development of nucleic sequencing and the initiation of large-scale
biological and biomedical research, have driven changes in veterinary
medicine, particularly over the last decade. Prof. Gasser spoke of
challenges and of the major impact that next-generation sequencing
and bioinformatic technologies are having in many fundamental and
applied areas of infectious diseases, as they become more accessible.
"These 'omic technologies will completely change the way we study
CVBDs and will substantially deepen our understanding of parasites,
vectors and host relationships, pathogenesis, epidemiology and
ecology at the molecular level. These fundamental insights will
underpin the design of radically new interventions and management
strategies against these important diseases into the future".

In this context, Dr Xavier Roura of the Hospital Clinic Veterinari
of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain, presented promising
new applications of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostics at
the meeting and emphasized the value of these new techniques; "The
advent of Real Time PCR means that it is now possible to track
disease development through reliable quantitative results.
Veterinarians need to be aware of these new advances in diagnostics
that make identification of CVBDs more accessible and accurate and
take action to ensure that they take advantage of their benefits to
improve prognosis and treatment decisions".

The CVBD World Forum is supported by Bayer Animal Health as part
of its ongoing commitment to advancing research into CVBDs worldwide.
"We are committed to advancing the scientific understanding of CVBDs
by bringing together the latest researchers from around the world in
this unique forum - we are proud to have played our part in ensuring
the next chapter in global CVDB management and prevention is written
in 2011", said Maria de Lourdes Mottier, Global Veterinary Services
Manager, Bayer Animal Health.

Further information on the diseases discussed in this release can
be found along with video interviews with key speakers from the 6th
CVDB Forum at http://www.cvbd.org.

Live updates made during the forum are available at
http://www.cvbd.org/5640.0.html

About Bayer HealthCare AG

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in
the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer
HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG with annual sales of more than EUR
16.913 billion (2010), is one of the world's leading, innovative
companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is
based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global
activities of the Animal Health, Consumer Care, Medical Care and
Pharmaceuticals divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and
manufacture products that will improve human and animal health
worldwide. Bayer HealthCare has a global workforce of 55.700
employees and is represented in more than 100 countries. Find more
information at http://www.bayerhealthcare.com.

With a turnover of EUR 1.120 million (2010) Bayer HealthCare's
Animal Health Division is one of the world's leading manufacturers of
veterinary drugs. The division manufactures and markets more than 100
different veterinary drugs and care products for livestock and
companion animals.

Forward-Looking Statements

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current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management.
Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
could lead to material differences between the actual future results,
financial situation, development or performance of the company and
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Contact:

Kathrin Statz, +49-2173-384019

[email protected]

Rückfragehinweis:
Contact: Kathrin Statz,
+49-2173-384019,[email protected]

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