Robert Swanepoel

BVSc (Pretoria); DTVM (Edinburgh), PhD (Edinburgh)

[email protected]

Extraordinary Lecturer, Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases

Research Sub-theme 1

Sylvatic circulation of African swine fever virus in South Africa.

Research Projects

Interrelationships of wild suids (warthogs, bush pigs, feral pigs and introduced European wild boars), Ornithodoros ticks and African swine fever virus.

Research Sub-theme 2

Development and application of broad diagnostic capacity for viruses of veterinary and zoonotic importance in livestock and wildlife, with emphasis on viral haemorrhagic fevers and arthropod-borne viruses.

Research Projects

• Development and validation of diagnostic reagents for Rift Valley fever, including preparation of reference panels of quality assurance sera.
• Systematic testing of wild caught mosquito pools for presence of arthropod-borne viruses.
• Opportunistic testing of samples associated with disease problems in wildlife for evidence of virus infections.

Research Opportunities

MSc and PhD projects dependent on the availability of funding:

• Viruses as cause of specific disease problems in wildlife.
• Reservoir host and vector studies on specific viral haemorrhagc fevers and arthropod-borne viruses.