Arthropod-borne infections

主要研究人员阿兰·科尔博士和艾玛·汤姆森博士，MRC-格拉斯哥大学病毒研究中心(CVR)、格拉斯哥大学的艾米丽·庞德维尔博士和马西莫·帕尔马里尼教授作为合作者。城市化、农业实践、大众运输以及人类与环境之间不断变化的相互作用为病毒在全球人类群体中出现和传播创造了前所未有的机会。许多新出现的病毒通过蚊子等节肢动物媒介传播给脊椎动物宿主，包括人类。“虫媒病毒”可以在脊椎动物和节肢动物中复制，从而克服蚊子和哺乳动物宿主的一系列敌意抗病毒反应。在这个项目中，我们的目标是了解蚊子对虫媒病毒的免疫反应的基本过程。这些研究将增加我们对媒介“能力”(即昆虫媒介传播某些虫媒病毒的能力)的了解，并有助于开发新的控制措施。还将与乌干达的乌干达病毒研究所合作，对虫媒病毒和其他新出现的病毒进行研究，在那里，过去已经发现了几种具有流行潜力的新出现的病毒。我们的目标是在乌干达3个地理上不同的地区(西北部、中部和西南部地区)的人口中识别导致发热性疾病的病毒和其他病原体。

Dr Alain Kohl and Dr Emma Thomson, Lead Investigators, Dr Emilie Pondeville and Prof Massimo Palmarini as Collaborators, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR), University of Glasgow.Urbanisation, agricultural practices, mass transportation and changing interactions between humans and their environment create unprecedented opportunities for viruses to emerge and spread globally among human populations. Many emerging viruses are transmitted to vertebrate hosts, including humans by arthropod vectors, such as mosquitoes. “Arboviruses” can replicate in both vertebrates and arthropods and thus overcome a diverse array of hostile antiviral responses from the mosquitoes and the mammalian hosts. In this programme we aim to understand the fundamental processes governing the immune responses of mosquitoes to arboviruses. These studies will increase our understanding of vector “competence” (i.e. the ability of insect vectors to transmit certain arboviruses) and facilitate the development of novel control measures. Studies on arboviruses and other emerging viruses will also be conducted in collaboration with the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Uganda, where several emergent viruses with epidemic potential have been identified in the past. We aim to identify viruses and other pathogens causing febrile illness in the human population living in 3 geographically distinct regions of Uganda (North West, Central and South West districts).