|
ROCKEFELLER FELLOW VISITING AUBURN
AUBURN, Ala.__--Poultry research conducted at Auburn University often
receives world-wide attention, and now has drawn a Nigerian scientist
visiting here on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship.
Dr. John Osita Arinze Okoye, head of the Department of Veterinary Pathology
and Microbiology and associate dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University
of Nigeria, is in Auburn to study poultry disease research techniques
on a Biotechnology Career Fellowship through the Rockefeller Foundation.
The Fellowship program is designed to keep scientists from second and
third world countries on the cutting edge of new biotechnologies which
could help improve agricultural, health, and population opportunities
in their countries. The program helps these scientists establish working
relationships with research teams in more advanced laboratories throughout
the world. The fellowship recipients gain expertise and stay abreast
of the latest developments in their respective fields.
Okoye came to Auburn to work with Dr. Joseph Giambrone, professor of
poultry science at Auburn, whose work with infectious bursal disease
(IBD) in poultry through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
at Auburn has received international attention. IBD is an economically
important infectious viral disease of poultry found throughout the world.
The IBD virus affects the birds' bursa of Fabricus, which controls antibody
production. Birds infected with IBD virus may be more susceptible to
infectious agents and may not respond adequately to vaccination.
According to Okoye, poultry production has great potential as an agricultural
industry and a way to feed the approximately 120 million residents of
Nigeria. Disease has restricted the success of the poultry industry
in Nigeria and limited resources and research technologies have kept
scientists from overcoming this problem.
"Poultry production is just starting in Nigeria, but Alabama is
at the forefront of the industry," Giambrone said, noting that
is a big reason that they were awarded the highly competitive Fellowship.
"We have both done a lot of work with the same disease (IBD) and
Dr. Okoye can learn new techniques here for diagnosing this disease."
"As soon as we can identify the diseases that are problematic and
control them, the poultry industry can grow very rapidly in my country,"
Okoye added.
Through the Fellowship, Okoye will spend three three-month stays in
Auburn where he will gain experience in the latest research techniques.
Between stays, he will return to Nigeria and apply his experience to
Nigeria's specific poultry disease problems.
-30-
By:
Katie Smith
May 28, 1991
|
