ISP4 Pathogenesis and resistance in viral diseases of livestock

This programme deals with the immunology, genetics and genomics of host resistance and susceptibility to virus infection and disease, outstanding fundamental questions on virus pathogenesis and novel strategies for the control of virus diseases. Our aim is to address important gaps in fundamental knowledge or in specific diseases and to translate the outputs into novel control strategies including animal breeding, transgenics, new vaccines or vaccine strategies. The programme includes detailed studies on a wide variety of mainly endemic viruses of importance to food production in their natural hosts, some of them with significant potential as vaccine vectors. The programme brings together researchers who specialise in a wide range of pathogens and specialists in the immune systems of livestock, and in the genetics, genomics and pathways of disease resistance. The strength of this aggregation is seen in our ability to study the impacts of co-infections, and in comparative pathogenesis, applying the knowledge of ways that pathogens subvert host resistance pathways to understanding the biology of other pathogens.