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Vaccines: From the cowshed to the clinic
April 14, 2016
Vaccines are an essential component of public health, keeping people safe against disease. But how do they work, how are they manufactured and what are the challenges involved? We spoke to Dr Sarah Gilbert from the Jenner Institute to find out more.
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Can we use models to predict virus outbreaks?
March 21, 2016
Professor Matthew Baylis from the University of Liverpool will talk about his predictions for future impacts of climate change on infectious diseases of animals at the Microbiology Society Annual Conference today (21 March). If we can anticipate what will happen to our climate, we could accurately predict the next outbreak of bluetongue virus disease in the UK. Not only that, but Matthew says that it’s possible to use the same model to say how quickly and widely the virus could spread. Indeed, the model could be used to predict the threat from other viruses on the livestock industry, too.
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Microbe Talk Extra: ProMED – An early warning system for emerging diseases
March 18, 2016
In the modern world, the spread of diseases like MERS, SARS, avian flu, Ebola, and Zika virus seems almost unavoidable.
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Could European mosquitoes transmit Zika virus?
March 7, 2016
The ongoing Zika virus outbreak in the Americas has now had confirmed cases in the UK and other parts of Europe. The disease appears to be linked to an increase in babies born with microcephaly as well as a serious neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome. Could mosquitoes here also transmit the disease?
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What is Zika virus?
January 13, 2016
In the past few weeks, there have been a number of reports about the rise of Zika virus, another member of the family that includes yellow fever virus, dengue virus and West Nile virus. But what is Zika virus? How is it transmitted? We asked Dr Derek Gatherer from Lancaster University, who recently co-wrote a review on the virus for the Journal of General Virology.