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GALVmed & The African Union Commission seal collaboration on control and eradication of African Animal Trypanosomiasis

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The African Union Commission and GALVmed today (Friday 9 November) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on control and Eradication of African Animal Trypanosomiasis.  With the aim of enhancing collaboration between AU-PATTEC and GALVmed, the MoU was signed at the African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  GALVmed’s Interim CEO, Professor Andy Peters and Senior Director for Research & Development, Dr Baptiste Dungu joined AU Commission Dignitaries for the signing.

The Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) and the AU-PATTEC Coordination Office is working in close collaboration with GALVmed (Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines) in the fight against tsetse and Trypanosomiasis.  On the 19 May 2011, GALVmed announced that it had been awarded £8 million by the UK Government to facilitate the development of new and improved drugs, diagnostics and perhaps even a vaccine for the control of African animal trypanosomiasis.  Animal African Trypanosomiasis has been estimated to cost Africa US$5 billion a year. The disease is caused by a several species of single-celled protozoan parasites and is spread by tsetse flies as they feed on animals’ blood.