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Viruses we study

Our research focuses on viruses that are potentially devastating for the economy, food security and the wellbeing of animals and humans. These include diseases like foot-and-mouth disease and bluetongue, which affect certain livestock, and zoonotic viruses like avian and swine influenza that can spread from animals to humans.

The list below contains the main viruses we work on. Each page gives details about the family the virus belongs to and the diseases associated with that virus. For example bluetongue virus (BTV)African horse sickness (AHS) and epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) all belong to the Reoviridae family, and SARS-CoV-2 (the cause of COVID-19) and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) are within the coronavirus family (Coronaviridae).

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Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a vector-borne disease of sheep, cattle and goats which humans are susceptible to. RVFV belongs to the Bunyaviridae family within the genus Phlebovirus . It is an enveloped virus containing a capsid and...
Rinderpest virus (RPV) belongs to the Paramyxoviridae family, genus Morbillivirus; it is closely related to the virus that causes the human disease measles. The virus has a membrane envelope and a nucleocapsid which contains the single-stranded RNA genome. Rinderpest...
Rotaviruses are a group of viruses that can infect a wide range of animals, including chicken, pigs, cattle and humans. They belong to the Reoviridae family, genus Rotavirus of which there are eight species referred to as A,...
Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects the lower respiratory tract of humans, causing the cells to merge, forming syncytia (hence the virus name). RSV belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae (which includes viruses such as measles and mumps), genus Pneumovirus ...
This transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 isolated from a patient in the U.S. Virus particles are shown emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. The spikes on the outer edge of the virus particles give coronaviruses...
default image The sheeppox virus (SPPV) and goatpox virus (GTPV) are contagious viral skin diseases of sheep and goats. They are members of the Poxviridae , genus Capripoxvirus and were believed to be strains of the same virus, but genetic sequencing...
Swine influenza (SI) viruses infect a wide range of hosts, but are endemic in pigs. SI viruses are members of the family Orthmyxoviridae , and fall into the Type A and C categories. These are subdivided into categories (strains) depending...
default image Swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV) infects only swine. It belongs to the genus Enterovirus , in the family Picornaviridae . Virulence of the different strains can vary. SVDV is an enveloped virus containing a capsid and single stranded RNA genome...
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flavivirus genus and Flaviviridae family of viruses. ZIKV is an arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) and is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes. The virus earned its name from the site of its first...

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