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Motivation: In vitro and in vivo selection of vaccines is time consuming, expensive and the selected vaccines may not be able to provide protection against broad-spectrum viruses because of emerging antigenically novel disease strains. A powerful computational model that…

A study using Marek's disease virus in poultry shows that by reducing natural selection against highly virulent strains, imperfect vaccination enables the spread of viral strains that would otherwise be too lethal to persist.

Bluetongue virus (BTV) is transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and causes an infectious, non-contagious disease of ruminants. It has been rapidly emerging in southern Europe since 1998. In mainland Portugal, strains of BTV belonging to three serotypes have been detected…

Viral metagenomic approaches are increasingly being used for viral discovery. Various strategies are applied to enrich viral sequences, but there is often a lack of knowledge about their effective influence on the viral discovery sensitivity. We evaluate some convenient and…

A better understanding of the immune responses of chickens to the influenza virus is essential for the development of new strategies of vaccination and control. We have developed a method incorporating infected chicken kidney cells (CKC) in culture with splenocytes in an IFN…

Bluetongue (BT) is often said to be a disease of severe economic consequence with a global estimate of US$ 3 billion. This review describes the most relevant contribution in the extant literature on production related losses due to BT. In summary, the impact of the endemic…

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) exert substantial economic costs on poultry producers worldwide. Vaccination is an attractive method of control, but the immunological basis of protection is poorly understood. Here, we examine the effect of intramuscular injection of…

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) infections are a serious impediment to sustainable poultry production worldwide. Licensed vaccines are available, but the immunological basis of protection is ill-defined and a need exists to extend cross-serotype efficacy. Here, we…

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a major disease affecting pigs worldwide and resulting in considerable economic losses. While PRRS is a global phenomenon, the causative viruses PRRSV-1 (first detected in Europe) and PRRSV-2 (isolated in North America)…