Impact and Management of Pathogens and Infectious Disease in Food Systems
Exeter Food members’ research on this theme includes work on modelling and mitigating the impact of plant pathogens, the management of infectious disease in livestock systems, the challenge of antimicrobial resistance, and the impact of Covid-19 on food systems.
Sarah Gurr—who is Chair in Food Security—studies fungal diseases and works on antifungals to control these plant pathogens; this work includes research on controlling Panama disease in bananas as well as fungal disease in wheat. Daniel Bebber—who is Associate Professor in Biosciences—has worked with Sarah Gurr on disease suppression in bananas, with a focus on the influence of soil microbial diversity on soil health, as well as modelling movement and predicting disease in crops with particular interest in the effects of weather and climate change. David Studholme, Associate Professor of Bioinformatics, studies plant pathogens and plant health, with the aim of mitigating existing, emerging and future threats to UK agriculture; he uses extensive Brassica germplasm to investigate the genetics, demography and diagnosis of Xanthomonas plant diseases, as well as investigating Microbial Uptakes for Sustainable management of major bananA pests and diseases (MUSA).
Biochemist Nicholas Harmer works on vaccine development against Coxiella burnetii, an obligate zoonotic pathogen of cattle, endemic in all of the world apart from New Zealand, that causes stillbirths and abortions in cattle as well as severe flu-like symptoms in humans (approximately 10% of whom develop chronic infection).
Microbiologist Willam Gaze researches infectious disease, antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in intensive livestock production in the United Kingdom and Argentina, as well as studying wild birds as vectors of AMR on UK dairy farms; he also leads the University of Exeter AMR Network. Aimee Murray—also a microbiologist—works on developing a conceptual framework to improve understanding of AMR in livestock systems, as well as translating research into policy and practice. Kelly Thornber—a research fellow in the Environment and Sustainability Institute—works with aquaculture farmers in Bangladesh to facilitate understanding of biosecurity risks, of the pharmaceutical value chain (in order to prevent misuse), and of antimicorbial resistance, all to improve industry sustainability.
A team of researchers led by Michael Winter, including Tim Wilkinson and Steve Guilbert, has been studying the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK food system.
