Calgary, Alta. (Rural Roots Canada) – Researchers at the University of Calgary are targeting parasitic worms that weaken cattle and cost the beef industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually, as drug resistance threatens current treatments.
The research team, led by Dr. James Wasmuth, has secured a $1.4-million grand from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada to develop new drugs targeting helminths, or parasitic roundworms, that infect beef cattle. Helminths live in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle, often causing infections that quietly weaken animals.
Wasmuth says his team has been working for a decade to develop new treatments using AI and advanced computational methods.
“My own research is in drug discovery for new anthelmintics,” he explains. “Those are new drugs to combat the parasitic nematodes that are in Alberta cattle and sheep.”
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Producers have relied on a limited number of drug classes, but resistance has emerged in Western Canada and globally. With drug resistance rising and no pipeline for new drugs, Wasmuth says that’s what this project is all about, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“Parasitic nematodes cause approximately a quarter of a billion dollars worth of loss for the Canadian cattle industry, and that’s with drugs that currently are working,” he says. “Drug resistance is a huge problem, and if those drugs fail, we estimate the cost to the industry would be about $1 billion annually. So, we need new drugs. There aren’t any new ones coming on the market, so we need to find new targets, new drugs, and accelerate this research.”
The team is currently doing some in vivo animal trials. Within the next 18 months, Wasmuth hopes to begin moving into large-animal trials. Over the next five years, the team aims to advance cattle trials and potential real-world use.
