Category Archives: Virology

Researchers are hunting for viruses that could cause the next pandemic

Posted on July 13, 2017 by

Scientists around the world are looking for the next SARS or MERS virus in wildlife from disease emergence ‘hotspots’. giulia/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 In late 2002, a new kind of lung infection began to emerge in the Guandong province of southern … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Microbiology, Emerging Diseases, On the Horizon, Virology | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Koalas have a virus that might protect them from chlamydia

Posted on April 4, 2017 by

In 2016, the koala was upgraded from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The cuddly-looking marsupial is not only threatened by habitat loss, but also by disease – most notably chlamydia infections. Different species … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Microbiology, Events, Virology | 2 Comments

How concerned should we be about H7N9 flu?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

The past few weeks have seen an increasing amount of coverage about an ongoing outbreak of the H7N9 strain of avian influenza in China (often called ‘bird flu’). Reports suggest that in January almost 200 people were confirmed as being … Continue reading →

Posted in Clinical and Medical Microbiology, Virology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

On the Horizon: Monkeypox

Posted on January 4, 2017 by

On 8 May 1980, after a global vaccination campaign, the WHO declared that smallpox had been eradicated. Wiping out this viral disease, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of millions of people throughout history, should be considered one of … Continue reading →

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Microbe Talk: November 2016

Posted on November 30, 2016 by

When pathogenic viruses pass from their animal reservoir into humans – known as ‘spillover events’ – the consequences can be severe. For example, it is thought that the West African Ebola outbreak began with an 18-month-old child in Guinea contracting … Continue reading →

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On the Horizon: Rift Valley fever

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

In 1930, a new disease was reported in sheep on a farm near the town of Naivasha, in the central Rift Valley region of Kenya. This disease caused mass spontaneous abortions among pregnant ewes and the death of newborn lambs. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Microbiology, Clinical and Medical Microbiology, Emerging Diseases, On the Horizon, Virology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Microbe Talk: October 2016

Posted on October 28, 2016 by

The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) building in Boston is a high-tech facility for the study of emerging, and re-emerging, microbial diseases of humans and animals. The building, part of Boston University, is equipped up to Biosafety level 4 … Continue reading →

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