In this episode of Contagious Thinking Elihu and Connor talk with Steve Polyak from the University of Washington in Seattle USA about how some drugs stop viruses from infecting us. In particular we chat about his work on a drug Arbidol that can block many viruses and is actually an over-the-counter medicine in Russia and… Continue reading
In the latest episode of Contagious Thinking, join CVR PhD student Jack Hirst and postdoc Connor Bamford as they chat with Dr Charles Masembe (follow him on Twitter:@cmasembe10) about his work on some of Africa’s most important animal viruses. Charles works currently on a virus called African swine fever virus (ASFV), which causes a deadly disease in… Continue reading
In this post, CVR PhD students Steph, Yasmin and Weronika, briefly write about their research (Zika pathogenesis, cat retroviruses and new HepC diagnostics) and the groups that they belong to, as part of a short series of articles from new Contagious Thinking contributors (check the whole team out here). Contagious Thinking serves to communicate the… Continue reading
As the Northern hemisphere approaches winter and the vaccines are in the process of being given before the annual flu season begins in earnest, the country starts to focus on these mysterious viruses that continue to infect us year on year. But if you look closely at influenza viruses, you’ll realise that there’s an awful lot we… Continue reading
“For many years, if not from the time of the introduction of the Merino sheep into the Colony, there has been prevalent amongst the flocks a disease known as fever. This disease is most prevalent during the summer months, and is very much worse in wet seasons.” That was a quote from the Report of… Continue reading
Is the ebolavirus mutating to become more transmissible in humans? Why was Zika virus able to move across the world so rapidly? Why are some viruses able to spread via aerosols floating in the air? While these may all appear to be very distinct questions, there is one major factor that connects them: the concept… Continue reading
As the International Meeting on Arboviruses and their Vectors, kicks off today in Glasgow with the Society for General Microbiology (#IMAV15), we’d like to present to you the fifth and final in a series of posts about arboviruses, their vertebrate hosts and their arthropod vectors. This post, written by Dr Alain Kohl ,CVR Arthropod-borne infections programme leader along with… Continue reading
“While arboviruses do not generally cause recognisable disease in their arthropod vectors they often do in vertebrates, in particular warm-blooded vertebrates like primates like us and livestock. “ As classically defined, arboviruses have both arthropod and non-arthropod hosts. Whilst insects/ticks may have legs, jaws and eyes etc., they are clearly very different to their vertebrate hosts, such as… Continue reading
As we’re now only one week from the International Meeting on Arboviruses and their Vectors, being held in Glasgow with the Society for General Microbiology (#IMAV15), we’d like to present to you the third in a series of posts about arboviruses. This post, written by Veronica Rezelj, PhD student (@verorezelj), focuses on arboviruses themselves, their virology and how by understanding how they… Continue reading
The last week of June saw Europe’s first confirmed human case of West Nile fever of the 2015 season, in Sofia, Bulgaria. West Nile fever, which is caused by West Nile virus (WNV) can be a serious disease, sometimes resulting in brain inflammation, paralysis and even death. While not unprecedented in the region, Europe has seen a… Continue reading
