This application is a 5-year competitive renewal of support for the World Reference Center for Arboviruses and for maintaining the Arbovirus Reference Collection. The last competitive review of this grant was 9 years ago when the Principal Investigator was given a merit award.
Specific aims are: (1) virus identification and characterization, (2) investigation and diagnosis of disease outbreaks, (3) preparation and distribution of certified virus strains and reagents, (4) development of new techniques for rapid detection of arboviral infections, (5) training in arbovirus techniques, and (6) dissemination of information on arbovirus taxonomy, diagnostic techniques and disease outbreaks. Research carried out by the Reference Center consists of: (1) basic and applied research, utilizing viruses and reagents held in its extensive reference collection, and (2) epidemiologic research resulting from the receipt of new virus samples or from investigation of emerging disease outbreaks. By its nature, research of the second type is difficult to predict or plan in advance. Likewise, it is not hypothesis driven; instead, it takes advantage of opportunities, e.g., new disease outbreaks, as they occur. Any virus suspected of being biologically transmitted by arthropods is accepted by the Reference Center for identification and characterization. A collection of over 500 already characterized viruses is maintained with complementary sera and diagnostic antigens. In addition to arthropod-transmitted viruses, a number of rodent-associated viruses (i.e. hantaviruses, arenaviruses, cardioviruses) together with their respective antigens and antisera are also included in the reference collection. This collection is not static; new virus strains are continually being archived. Furthermore, instead of having just one or two strains of each known virus, the reference collection contains many different strains of selected arboviruses of medical and veterinary importance. Efforts have been made to collect representative strains of these viruses from a variety of sources, geographic localities and time periods. It is to be noted that the Reference Center provides viruses and serologic reagents, at no cost, upon request from qualified investigators. This service is considered essential for maintaining an active reference collection, since collaborators throughout the world reciprocate by sending new viruses to the Center. The World Reference Center for Arboviruses was established in 1952 by the Rockefeller Foundation Laboratories, New York City, to study the role of arthropod-borne viruses in producing disease in humans and animals as well as the mechanisms by which these viruses are maintained and transmitted in nature. In 1964, the laboratories were moved to Yale University. The Yale Arbovirus Research Unit continued this service until mid-1995, when Drs. Tesh and Shope, together with the reference collection, moved to modern, new laboratories at the Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)at Galveston. The grant's overall objective is to support the work of the World Reference Center for Arboviruses and to maintain the Arbovirus Reference collection which was at Yale for the past 25 years and a set of the viruses we moved with Drs. Tesh and Shope to Galveston when they relocated.
The Specific Aims are similar to those on the past cycle which received a merit award: 1. Virus identification and characterization, 2. Investigation and diagnosis of disease outbreaks, 3. Preparation and distribution of certified virus strains and reagents, 4. Development and new serologic and molecular techniques for rapid detection of arboviral infections, 5. Training professional and technical personnel from any region of the world in arbovirus techniques, and 6. Dissemination of information on arbovirus taxonomy, diagnostic techniques and disease outbreaks.
