26 Japanese Encephalitis Virus Research Proposals Under Review

The Executive Director of the Swine Health Information Center reports a February call for Japanese encephalitis virus research proposals attracted an outstanding response.

In February the Swine Health Information Center and Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research issued a call for research proposals aimed at enhancing U.S. prevention, preparedness and response capabilities for Japanese encephalitis virus, a mosquito borne transboundary emerging disease risk for U.S. swine.
SHIC Executive Director Dr. Megan Niederwerder says 26 proposals were received from 23 U.S. and international institutions.

Quote-Dr. Megan Niederwerder-Swine Health Information Center:

We identified 13 research priorities with regards to this call and invited proposals across all 13 research priorities.Research priorities included aspects such as transmission and epidemiology, so how would we reduce the clinical impact on a breeding farm, thinking about best mosquito control strategies.
How do we reduce mosquito exposure on swine farms?

How do we develop the most effective diagnostic surveillance strategies?Would it be in mosquitos or commercial pigs or feral swine?How do we communicate effectively to the consumer with regards to the safety of pork, thinking about how do we understand the vaccine development?Are there novel vaccine strategies that may be effective for JEV?

Would our pigs have any cross protection from some of the other flaviviruses that are currently in the U.S. such as West Nile virus.Also understanding what the competent vectors are in the U.S. and the role of wildlife with regards to transmission and exposure.We also want to understand if there are any other novel hosts that may be able to support JEV, again trying to understand what the risks of introduction would be but also to understand what's the most effective surveillance program.How would we detect it early and how do we mitigate the risks of transmission and spread.

Dr. Niederwerder says a task force is now evaluating the proposals and funding recommendations are expected by July.
For more visit swinehealth.org or Farmscape.Ca.