The AHB contracts research within five key areas:
Research in this area involves investigating new means of diagnosing TB in cattle, deer and wildlife, evaluating improvements in culturing, PCR and typing of Mycobacterium bovis and developing and evaluating TB vaccines for use in domestic animals and wildlife.
Research in this area is designed to meet regulatory requirements for toxin use, investigate their potential impacts on the environment and native flora and fauna and evaluate the effectiveness of toxins used to control wild animal vectors of bovine TB.
The projects that the AHB contracts within this area of research provides answers to various questions including how the disease is spread, what the key mechanisms are in the transmission of TB between and within species and how the behaviour of wildlife vectors affects TB spread. The development and utilisation of computer models also assists in containing and eradicating TB from wild animal populations.
Research in this area involves the development, modification and evaluation of vector control devices that are used for the presentation of toxins, trapping of animals or monitoring of population densities, with the purpose of providing more cost-effective, efficient and measurable vector control results.
Through it’s involvement with the National Research Centre for Possum Biocontrol (NRCPB), AHB contracts a small amount of research in this area aimed at alternative means of controlling wildlife vectors using applied biological means.