Relevant Pathogens

Viral

African Swine Fever: Viral; Tick Bourne / feces; no vaccine; no human infections. Interesting geographic variation.
Avian flu: Viral; see Anaplasmosis as far as effects
Blue Tongue: Viral. Native resistant. Midge spread.
Enzootic Bovine Leukosis: Viral; causes leukemia
FMDV (Foot-and-mouth-disease): Viral. Economically important. High prevalence. Students cannot board a plane after xxx days of being on a farm. Vet department is interested in. Super important. Incredibly contagious.
Infectious Bursal disease: Viral. Lymph nodes. Chickens. 50-90% mortality in flocks.
Lumpy skin disease: Viral. Epidemics every 3-5 years. Biting flies. 2-5% mortality. Effective vaccine available. Vaccine not given because of economics of creating vaccine.
Newcastle disease: Viral. See Infectious Bursal disease.
Peste Des Petits Ruminants: Viral. Goats / sheep. High mortality. Not thought to be in Malawi. Causes death/abortions. Interesting to screen for.
Rabies: Viral. Endemic in domestic dogs. No known wildlife reservoirs. But, none tested. Zoonotic. 200-300 cases / year in 1992-ish. But, underreported. South vs. North prevalence would be interesting. Good collaborators in this; they use the web-program 'epiCollect'. Might be hard to work with, as it infects humans. Human vaccine is incredibly expensive in the US (US$500-US$1500).
Rift Valley Fever: Viral. Mosquito vector. Zoonotic, all mammals. Flu-like in people. Serological studies would be best, infrequent outbreaks in cattle. Sylvatic cycle?

Anaplasmosis : Bacterial; Tick Bourne; cows / goats immune at low levels. Not clinical in native animals. Europeans breeds die. Not economically important.
Anthrax: Bacterial; this would be a nightmare to try and detect as it is a BSL-4 organism. Many governments would be very interested in what we are doing!
Black Quarter: Bacterial — Clostrium choviae. Affects cows. Swampy areas to dry areas. Husbandry issues. Spore transmitted.
Brucellosis sp.: Bacteria. Contaminated water. Passed through urine. Zoonotic.
Bovine Pleuropneumonia: Bacterial — Mycoplasma. Government denies exists. PCR. In surrounding countries. Slow onset, long incubation period.
Heartwater: Bacteria (Ehrlichia sp.) — rickettsia. Tick-bourne.
Leptospirosis: Bacteria (Leptospira sp.). Transmitted by animal urine.
Bovine Tuberculosis and Avian Tuberculosis: Bacteria — mycobacterium. Bovine TB or avian TB. Endemic in cattle. 18% or more? Confused with chryony bacterium (? unclear what this is). Primates get it from humans (? again, unclear). Primates exposed to avian TB

Cysticercosis: Parasite tapeworm. Taenia solium — pork tapeworm. Can infect humans to cause disease.
East Coast Fever: Protist. Tick Bourne. Cattle/goat. Present, but prevalence is unclear. There are studies on the effects of on this with tick dipping. Would be a good one to work with. Live vaccine in Malawi available.
Echinococcus: Parasite tapeworm. Genus of tapeworm, with key species of E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, E. vogeli, and E. oligarthrus.
Heartworm: Parasite, filarial worm. D. immitis
Liver flukes: Parasite flatworm. See Black Quarter as far as effects.
Strongyloides: Parasite — worm in feces. In wildlife, leads to lower health.
Trypanosomiasis: Parasite — Plasmodium. Tsetse fly vector; 2% of cattle affected? Interesting. Receivers in wildlife. Can be tested with thick/thin blood smears. Stain with Giemsa (chemical). Economic impact is high. Interesting.

Price List for Ondestepoort, veterinary reference lab in South Africa