Identification Of Risk Factors Associated With Exposure To Australian Bat Lyssavirus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$230,344.00
Summary
Australia is one of the few countries in the world known to be free of rabies. A dramatic impact on this status occurred in 1996. A flying fox in northern NSW was found to be infected with a rabies-like virus. Within 16 weeks of this discovery the first human case occurred. A further human case has now been reported. The newly discovered virus, named Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) was found to be closely related to, but distinguishable from, rabies virus. Rabies virus is responsible for thousan ....Australia is one of the few countries in the world known to be free of rabies. A dramatic impact on this status occurred in 1996. A flying fox in northern NSW was found to be infected with a rabies-like virus. Within 16 weeks of this discovery the first human case occurred. A further human case has now been reported. The newly discovered virus, named Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) was found to be closely related to, but distinguishable from, rabies virus. Rabies virus is responsible for thousands of human infections each year, mainly in Asia and South Asia where it is endemic in urban dogs. In contrast, other rabies-like viruses have caused only a handful of human infections. Although the number of human cases of ABL is likely to remain low, each of the two known cases has aroused a great deal of public anxiety. The natural hosts appear to be various species of bats which collectively have a distribution along the entire northern and eastern coastlines. The number of potential exposures is therefore quite large and state health departments are devoting considerable resources to dealing with public concerns. This project will establish clearly defined risk factors for exposure to ABL and will allow health authorities to better manage expensive and limited vaccine and therapy resources.Read moreRead less
Viral Targeting Of STAT Proteins: Roles In Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$536,985.00
Summary
The capacity of viruses to evade the host immune response is critical to the development of disease. We recently showed that interaction of specific viral proteins with host immune proteins called STATs is vital to lethal disease caused by lyssaviruses. In this project, we aim to define in detail the functions of these interactions in viral modification of host biology and evasion of the immune response, and to use this information to develop new vaccines against highly pathogenic human viruses.
Defining The Molecular Mechanisms Of Lyssavirus Replication And Immune Evasion: The P Protein Axis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$900,995.00
Summary
Lyssaviruses such as rabies virus (RABV) and Australian bat lyssavirus cause rabies disease, which has the highest case-fatality rate of known infectious diseases, causing >60,000 human deaths/year. Critical to this is a protein produced by the virus that is important for both viral growth and evasion of the host's immune defences. This project aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, which may lead to new approaches to combat currently incurable viral diseases.