Joint Research Unit Virology 1161 ANSES/INRA/ENVA
Research area of the Unit The JRU (Joint Research Unit) Virology is a trans-institutional research unit dedicated to animal and veterinary public health, an alliance between ANSES, INRA and the French veterinary school in Alfort. We investigate animal viruses responsible for epizootics or with potential for zoonotic transmission and/or emergence. We thus i) characterise viral diversity, interspecies transmission of virus, viral pathogenesis and immune responses elicited by viral infection, and notably to instruct risk evaluation and decision making, ii) develop new diagnostic methods optimised for epidemiological surveillance and phylogeny, and in particular for viruses responsible for foot and mouth disease, bluetongue, hepatitis E and equine diseases such as West Nile fever and iii) develop new vaccination strategies based on recombinant DNA technologies. To gain understanding of interspecies viral transmission, the JRU compares viral strains circulating in humans and animals and defines virus/host interactions promoting or limiting cross-species transmission. Viruses such as hepatitis E virus (HEV), West Nile virus (WNV), encephalomyocarditis virus, coronaviruses, Schmallenberg virus (SBV), and borna disease virus (BDV) are studied in this regard.
