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
