Snowdon

Veterinary Care

Snowdon Addresses Needs in Animal Healthcare

Apicomplexan parasites are extremely important in terms of veterinary medicine and animal healthcare. Toxoplasmosis, Neosporosis, Sarcocystis, Babesiosis, Coccidiosis, Eimeria, and Theileria are serious problems in various animals, including wild animals, household pets such as cats and dogs, and domestic animals including cattle, birds and poultry. Of course, humans are also susceptible to many of these parasitic diseases.

Snowdon has discovered a new family of small-molecule compounds which function through a novel mechanism of action that act as potent inhibitors of the gliding motility and invasive capacity of these parasites. In fact, our research suggests that these same compounds will work as prophylactic agents to prevent infection in host animals.

Toxoplasmosis has been found in virtually all warm-blooded animals including most pets, livestock, and human beings. Toxoplasmosis infection of agricultural animals causes miscarriage.

Neosporosis infects a wide variety of mammals including dogs, cats, cattle, horses, rodents, monkeys, goats, sheep, and deer. It is a major cause of abortions and stillbirth in cattle worldwide; the economic impact of Neosporosis infection of cattle is astounding. Incredibly, no drugs or vaccines have been shown effective to reduce or prevent Neosporosis infection in cattle.

Sarcocystis infection is common in domestic animals; symptomatic disease in humans is less common. Ingestion of undercooked beef or pork from infected animals will produce an enteric infection which can produce various GI problems including nausea and diarrhea. No specific antiparasitic agent is known to prevent or treat Sarcocystis infection.

Babesiosis, also called redwater or cattle tick fever, is a tick-borne disease that infects red blood cells. Babesiosis is a common, potentially fatal, infection in animals. Babesiosis is economically a very important disease because it affects domestic animals and especially cattle.

Coccidiosis is a generic name given to a host of highly contagious animal-specific intestinal diseases caused by the coccidian parasite. Susceptible animals range from household pets like cats and dogs, to entire herds of cattle, and even large flocks of birds and poultry. Infected animals generally experience diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration which can be fatal. Although prolonged treatment with drugs such as sulfadimethoxine (Albon®) and trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (Tribrissen®) is commonly used inhibit parasite reproduction, no drugs currently exist that actually kill the parasite and cure the disease. In contrast, Snowdon's antiparasitic compounds are designed to kill the parasite directly by selectively blocking its vital invasive machinery.

Eimeria remains one of the economically most important diseases in modern poultry production. The economic cost due to infection, even in developed countries such as the USA, is enormous.

Theileria parva is the cause of East Coast fever (ECF), an acute tick-borne disease causing high rates of morbidity and mortality in cattle particularly in Africa. According to reports, over 1 million cattle die each year from ECF.