Identification of mosquito-borne flaviviruses
Culiseta longlareolata © Alves Gaspar
There are more than 520 known arthropod-borne viruses, of which approximately 100 cause disease in humans.
This important research studies flaviviruses (two of which cause Dengue and Yellow fever) and their relation to mosquitoes.
Primary aims include:
- molecular surveys of mosquito flaviviruses
- identification of novel and emerging flaviviruses
- characterisation of the mosquito vectors of flaviviruses via genomic sequencing
Our flavivirus research is being conducted around the world including Trinidad, Cuba, Venezuela, Uganda, Vietnam and Thailand.
Results include the first isolation of a novel insect-only flavivirus from a mosquito of the genus Mansonia in Uganda and the discovery of between three and ten novel flaviviral strains in Thailand and Vietnam.