News from October 2018

Our Head of Entomology, Dr Simon Carpenter, suggests some creepy crawly alternatives to the usual Halloween spider clichés... It’s been a big few months for our friends from the order Araneae, or just plain spiders to the non-Arachnologists among you. We’ve had Billie Eilish tearing it up with tens…

Pirbright scientists are bringing together vector research communities to improve their capacity for fighting disease. The aptly named ‘ Gnatwork’ is forging international connections between scientists that work on three insect groups (sandflies, blackflies and biting midges) through providing…

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have conducted the first study to directly compare the ability of two peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccines to protect susceptible animals against wildtype viruses from any of the four genetic lineages of PPR virus. Through analysing the immune response of…

Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have identified a key mutation in the H7N9 avian influenza virus which could allow it to escape immune system defences, reducing the effectiveness of vaccines. The research, published in the Journal of Virology, demonstrated that small genetic differences in the…

Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have used a ground-breaking approach to identify that a morbillivirus that causes disease in small ruminants such as sheep and goats, known as peste des petits ruminants (a close relative of measles virus – the human morbillivirus), could, through minor…

To celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, today 9 October, we asked everyone at Pirbright to nominate their female STEM role model with a short explanation on why they were nominating them. Miriam Windsor, Research Services Capability Leader, nominated Pirbright’s Dr Geraldine Taylor, who was previously the…

To celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, today 9 October, we asked everyone at Pirbright to nominate their female STEM role model with a short explanation on why they were nominating them. Miriam Windsor, Research Services Capability Leader, nominated Pirbright’s Dr Geraldine Taylor, who was previously the…

Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have created a laboratory procedure which allows the response of chicken immune cells to infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) to be studied without infecting live chickens. IBDV, also known as Gumboro disease, can result in immunosuppression and death in…

Scientists from The Pirbright Institute have used state-of-the-art approaches to monitor foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that have recently radiated out from the Indian subcontinent. The seven different types of FMD virus (called serotypes) can be split further into lineages which normally…

Bluetongue virus type 8 was successfully identified in two imported cattle recently by the National Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue virus, part of the Non-Vesicular Disease Reference Laboratory Group’s diagnostic facilities here at Pirbright, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The…