New tools and insights to enable breeding for reduced disease transmission

Publication Name
Proceedings of 12th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production (WCGALP) Technical and species orientated innovations in animal breeding, and contribution of genetics to solving societal challenges
Publisher
Wageningen Academic Publishers
ISBN
978-90-8686-940-4
Abstract
Theoretical and empirical evidence indicates there is far more host genetic variation underlying infectious disease prevalence than currently utilized in breeding programmes. In particular, genetic variation in host propensity to transmit infection is rarely fully captured. This paper describes methods now available for estimating genetic effects underlying infectious disease transmission, and novel insights regarding genetic (co-) regulation of the corresponding host epidemiological traits from empirical studies. Results show we now have the tools available to obtain reliable estimates for genetic effects for host susceptibility, infectivity and recovery or death rates from individual disease data, given the appropriate experimental or field study design. Substantial genetic (co-)variation appears to exist for all three epidemiological host traits and previously identified resistance genotypes may also confer genotypic differences in at least one if not all of these traits, thus holding great promise to drastically improve the effectiveness of genetic disease control.
Year
2023
Category
Book Chapter
Output Tags
Livestock genetics