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Animals in research

Discover how we advance animal welfare through transparency, compassion, and scientific excellence.

Round glass trophy in black satin presentation box, engraving on trophy reads: HEBCoN, Winner, Higher Education Business Continuity Network Awards, 2021

Pirbright’s award winning COVID-19 response

The Pirbright Institute has been announced as the winner of the Higher Education Business Continuity Network (HEBCoN) COVID-19 Pandemic Response (CPR) award. The Institute is one of five winning organisations that were revealed at the recent HEBCoN conference. Awards were…

Professor Munir Iqbal looking at results from influenza vaccine research

Why vaccines matter in the fight against zoonotic diseases

On World Zoonoses Day, Pirbright's Professor Munir Iqbal and Dr Joshua Sealy consider 600 years of developing technology to fight infectious diseases: The history of human and animal immunisation against infectious disease begins with the Chinese practice of variolation in…

World’s first gene edited Culicoides biting midges

Scientists have successfully edited the genome of biting midges, opening the door to new research on how these insects transmit disease.

Prof. Bryan Charleston

Professor Bryan Charleston retires as Director and CEO of The Pirbright Institute

The Pirbright Institute announces that due to personal reasons, Professor Bryan Charleston MRCVS FRS has retired from his position as Institute Director and CEO. Bryan has made an exceptional contribution to The Pirbright Institute over more than three decades. Since joining…

Vaccine on a colourful background

Pirbright’s new bird flu vaccine provides rapid protection, could reduce virus spread and is less costly to produce

An improved poultry influenza vaccine has been developed by researchers from The Pirbright Institute. The potential vaccine triggers a rapid immune response which protects chickens against signs of disease and reduces the level of virus that they could pass on, a key element…

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Polymerase mutations underlie early adaptation of H5N1 influenza virus to dairy cattle and other mammals

Abstract In 2024, an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza was detected in dairy cattle in the USA resulting in spillbacks into poultry, wild birds and other mammals including humans. Here, we present molecular and virological evidence that the…

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Comparison of whole genome sequencing approaches for Capripox viruses

Background Direct whole genome sequencing of Capripox virus genomes from diagnostic samples is not always straightforward. Low viral content in a sample, biased sequencing and subsequent assembly and mapping methods may all influence the outcome. Methods In this study we…

A map showing the spread of foot-and-mouth disease virus variants across Asia

Pirbright study identifies risk factors that drive FMD outbreaks in Asia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYOC83wA3DA An international project led by scientists in the World Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (WRLFMD) at The Pirbright Institute has tracked the evolution of FMD virus (FMDV) over nearly 20 years to reveal how different…

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Can H5N1 avian influenza in dairy cattle be contained in the US?

The emergence and sustained spread of H5N1 in US dairy cattle since 2024 have demonstrated that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is capable of establishing long-term transmission in livestock. Genomic surveillance has clarified national patterns of spatial diffusion…