Tag Archives: Public health
What impact does research in animal health have in society?
On Monday 25th July I participated as a speaker at the 1st Conference on Social Impact of Science, held in Barcelona, specifically in the historical building of the University of Barcelona in Plaça Universitat. It is the first time a conference of this kind has been organized and with the participation, direct or indirect, of up to three Nobel Prize awardees. It was a very rewarding experience, because I was invited to the Combat diseases section to discuss the social impact of research in animal health.
Viral Comments (25): Enterovirus, here comes the surprise.
This post has been published in Catalan and Spanish only, please accept our apologies.
Viral comments (24): Norovirus and Andorra; nothing to declare?
The last two weeks news about the outbreak of norovirus on bottled water in Catalonia have flooded the headlines After the initial tumult, here is a briefing of the facts, with a few conclusions.
Viral Comments (23): Zika and semen, one-time dangerous liaison.
Zikavirus is an arbovirus, an arthropod borne virus, a virus transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes. Let’s be more precise; Zika is an arbovirus, an arthropod borne virus, a virus mainly transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes. But there are some secondary routes. Zikavirus, but also Ebola, for example, apparently very different viruses, have a transmission path, clearly secondary, but slightly surprising: the sexual route.
IRTA-CReSA will perform Zika virus surveillance in Tiger mosquitoes
IRTA-CReSA (Animal Health Research Centre) is responsible for conducting viral surveillance on the Tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) of different viruses transmitted by mosquitoes by commission of the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya. Since 2014, IRTA-CReSA carries out the diagnosis of Chikungunya virus in Aedes albopictus. In 2015, this surveillance expanded to Dengue virus. And this year the necessary tools to detect the Zika virus are also being implemented. This service is framed within the “Protocol for surveillance and control of mosquito-borne arbovirosis in Catalunya” which is coordinated by the Public Health Agency of Catalunya.
Viral comments (22): Zika and animals: We do not know much!
The Zika virus is an emerging virus (ZIKV), because right now it rides on Aedes genus mosquitoes colonizing new geographic areas, but it’s been around us openly over 60 years (it is noted on a recent study that the three variants that circulate nowadays, two African and one from Asia, have a common origin back in 1920, but we cannot go beyond that time) and probably hundreds or thousands of years in their natural hosts … which we have not yet fully identified.
First Cystinet International Conference
The First Cystinet International Conference took place on 3-4 November 2015 in Belgrade (Serbia).
Hunting for tiger mosquitoes and chikungunya virus
Chikungunya fever has already been detected in more than 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The virus is transmitted from one person to another by the bite of infected female mosquitoes. Generally the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the well-known tiger mosquito) two species which can also transmit other viruses, including dengue.
