The immunology of domestic animals: its present and future

Veterinary immunology, defined as the immunology of domestic and wild animals having economical or sentimental value to man, provides both practical knowledge that is useful to animal husbandry, and new insights into fundamental immunology. Defining new immunologically based diagnostic tools and immunotherapeutic approaches, including vaccine strategies, obviously still represents important applied objectives. Resistance of domestic animals to disease might also be improved through genetic selection of animals for immunological traits. New contributions to fundamental immunology will arise from so-called 'Immunological opportunities in farm animals' (M. Parkhouse) such as: the ileal Peyer's patch of large animals as an accessible model for studying B cell differentiation; the significance of a high number of gamma delta T cells in ungulates and of double positive CD4+ CD8+ T cells; the possible manipulation of the immune system at a regional level in the living animal by cannulating lymphatic vessels; the use of spontaneous immunodeficiency or autoimmune diseases of animals as models for human clinical research. The fulfillment of these objectives benefits from the flow of information and communications among immunologists working on domestic animals. In addition to national specialized groups, the Veterinary Immunology Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies (VIC-IUIS) was created to facilitate communication on veterinary immunology; to establish 'official' links between veterinary immunology and the rest of the immunologists' community; and to support the organization of international workshops on domestic animal immunological reagents.