Pathobiology, University of Illinois

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the biggest disease threats plaguing U.S. pork producers today. Dr. Dongwan Yoo, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, was awarded a USDA grant in July to continue his efforts to show how the virus evades the pig's immune response and to use a genetically engineered mutant PRRS virus to create a vaccine against PRRS. Read more about Dr. Yoo's recent advances.

An international research team, including Dr. Karen Terio of the University of Illinois Zoological Pathology Program, has published the first clear example of how climate extremes can create conditions in which diseases that are normally tolerated singly may converge and bring about mass die-offs in wildlife.They investigated outbreaks of canine distemper virus that resulted in unusually high mortality in Serengeti lions. Their findings suggests that extreme climatic conditions, such as the more frequent droughts and floods expected with global warming, are capable of altering normal host-pathogen relationships and bringing about a "perfect storm" of multiple infectious outbreaks, potentially triggering epidemics with catastrophic mortality.

For details see http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/news/index.cfm?function=viewartcl&id=145.

Eleventh Annual
New and Reemerging
Infectious Diseases Conference

Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18, 2008
College of Veterinary Medicine
Large Animal Clinic Auditorium

The Annual Conference on New and Reemerging Infectious Diseases brings together national and international experts whose research interests range from avian influenza to West Nile virus. This two-day, on-campus event features lectures, posters, and a keynote presentation.

Read more about the conference.

Download the proceedings.