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).
Poliovirus (PV) is a highly infectious virus that causes polio in humans. PV is primarily spread through infected faeces entering the mouth, consuming contaminated food or water and, less commonly, through infected saliva. People who are infected can transmit the...
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infects domestic pigs, causing a highly infectious disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. Although as little as 10 virions are needed to infect an animal, the virus is not highly contagious. PRRSV spreads...
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, also known as cattle plague, was primarily a disease of domestic cattle, buffalo and yaks, although the disease had also been reported in various wildlife species such as eland, giraffe, wildebeest, kudu and various antelopes. A 20-year global effort...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
Pages
Show All Viruses
