Objective
Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV), a member of the genus Cardiovirus in the family Picornaviridae, is regarded as a virus of rodents but can on occasion cause disease in a wide variety of animals including domesticated pigs. EMCV may either cause sudden death in piglets or reproductive failure in sows. These disease syndromes were first observed in Europe in 1986 and have increased in frequency since that time. The transmission and spread of this emerging European disease is poorly understood both in wildlife and domesticated species.
In this study we will investigate three areas,
I) the epidemiology of EMCV disease;
ii) virus strain virulence; and
iii) diagnosis of EMCV infections.
Epidemiology: Firstly the epidemiology and economic implications of EMCV infection in pigs will be studied by investigating the mode and kinetics o virus spread on an infected farm. The prevalence and spread of EMCV throughout Europe will be studied by the collection and genetic analysis of viruses from both wildlife (rodents etc.) And pigs and by surveying these populations for antibodies to EMCV. The route of EMCV transmission will be studied experimentally. Host (genetic) and environmental factors (such as stress) which may influence the outcome of an outbreak will be studied. We will determine reliable parameters of immune protection. All the above data will be used to create an epidemiologic and economic computer model for EMCV disease which may also be used for emergmg diseases in general.
Virus strain virulence: We will investigate the basis for the variable virulence of EMCV strains in pigs by characterisation of viruses at the genome level. Initially genome areas known to be involved in the virulence of other Picornaviruses (S' UTR, poly-C tract, VP1, 3' UTR) will be studied in a number of well characterised EMCV strains which cause either myocardial or reproductive disorders. Additionally a molecularly-cloned infectious cdna will be constructed to investigate virulence by the creation of chimeric viruses or by reverse genetics. The implications for the emergence of disease due to the quasispecies nature of EMCV will also be investigated and can be useful for the study of other emerging RNA-viruses. Diagnosis: Molecular diagnostic assays previously developed by us under an AIR project will be updated to allow an immediate appraisal of the impact of EMCV infection on the animal health status. This will include further optimisation of all stages of diagnostic pcrs and the application and development of new assays (e.g. Antigen-capture PCR). If possible diagnostic tests based on molecular markers of virulence will be developed. Additionally comparative evaluation of these assays will be undertaken by all participants.
It is envisioned that these studies will make an important contribution to the understanding of the epidemiology and future control of this emerging di of pigs.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Coordinator
1180 BRUXELLES
Belgium
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