Research paper Rapid, sensitive and effective diagnostic tools for foot-and-mouth disease virus in Africa Speed is paramount in the diagnosis of highly infectious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), as well as for emerging diseases; however, simplicity is required if a test is to be deployed in the field. Recent developments in molecular biology have enabled the… Read more
Research paper Partial genetic characterization of peste des petits ruminants virus from goats in Northern and Eastern Tanzania Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute viral disease of small ruminants. The disease was first reported in Tanzania in 2008 when it was confined to the Northern Zone districts bordering Kenya. The present study was carried out to confirm the presence of PPR virus (PPRV… Read more
Research paper Retrospective evaluation of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine effectiveness in Turkey Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is present in much of Turkey and its control is largely based on vaccination. The arrival of the FMD Asia-1 serotype in Turkey in 2011 caused particular concern, spreading rapidly westwards across the country towards the FMD free European Union… Read more
Research paper Veterinary and human vaccine evaluation methods Despite the universal importance of vaccines, approaches to human and veterinary vaccine evaluation differ markedly. For human vaccines, vaccine efficacy is the proportion of vaccinated individuals protected by the vaccine against a defined outcome under ideal conditions… Read more
Research paper Risk assessment and cost-effectiveness of animal health certification methods for livestock export in Somalia Livestock export is vital to the Somali economy. To protect Somali livestock exports from costly import bans used to control the international spread of disease, better certification of livestock health status is required. We performed quantitative risk assessment and cost… Read more
Research paper Bluetongue, Schmallenberg - what is next? Culicoides-borne viral diseases in the 21st Century In the past decade, two pathogens transmitted by Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), bluetongue virus and Schmallenberg virus, have caused serious economic losses to the European livestock industry, most notably affecting sheep and cattle. These outbreaks of… Read more
Research paper The molecular biology of nairoviruses, an emerging group of tick-borne arboviruses The nairoviruses are a rapidly emerging group of tick-borne bunyaviruses that includes pathogens of humans (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus [CCHFV]) and livestock (Nairobi sheep disease virus [NSDV], also known as Ganjam virus), as well as a large number of viruses for… Read more
Basic page Non-vesicular disease diagnostic testing Testing for African horse sickness, African swine fever, bluetongue, Capripox (sheep pox, goat pox and lumpy skin disease), epizootic haemorrhagic disease, and peste des petits ruminants. Read more
Research paper The Nairovirus Nairobi sheep disease virus/Ganjam virus induces the translocation of protein disulphide isomerase-like oxidoreductases from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cell surface and the extracellular space Nairobi sheep disease virus (NSDV) of the genus Nairovirus causes a haemorrhagic gastroenteritis in sheep and goats with mortality up to 90%; the virus is found in East and Central Africa, and in India, where the virus is called Ganjam virus. NSDV is closely related to the… Read more
Research paper Aptamer-based biosensors for the rapid visual detection of flu viruses RNA aptamers showing affinity and specificity for different strains of human influenza virus were assembled onto gold nanoparticles that subsequently formed a gold nanoshell (AuNS) around the viral envelope. These shells could be visualised by transmission electron… Read more
