The Zoonotic Arbo- and Respiratory Viruses Program.

The Zoonotic Arbo- and Respiratory Virus (ZARV) group in the Centre for Viral Zoonosis is situated in the Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Health Sciences. The program is in the unique position to conduct research on both human and animal zoonotic diseases and work closely with medical entomology, veterinary pathology and clinical researchers. The group’s main focus is vector-borne viruses (arboviruses) including flaviviruses (e.g West Nile virus), alphaviruses (e.g Middelburg and Sindbis), and bunyaviruses (e.g Shuni, Rift Valley fever and Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever) as well as respiratory viruses transmitted directly from animals to humans or between humans such as paramyxo- and influenza viruses. The group has a broad focus on disease surveillance, epidemiology, molecular biology, immunology and ecology of these viruses; as well as the development of novel diagnostics & vaccines, viral pathogenesis and discovery.

History:

The program was started in 2006 by Prof Marietjie Venter to define West Nile Virus and emerging respiratory viruses in the Department of Medical Virology. In 2009, the university funded a state of the art BSL3 laboratory which allowed the program to be expanded to study emerging arboviruses and respiratory diseases in humans and animals; and the program became known as the Zoonoses Research Unit with a strong collaboration between human and animal health sectors in the country. Prof Venter was in a joined appointment between the National Institute for Communicable diseases as director of the Centre for Repository diseases and Meningitis and Director of the National Influenza Centre from 2009-2014 and then with the Global disease detection Centre of the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2014-2016 as Director of the One Health and Emerging infections Programs. In July 2016, she joined UP as full Professor in the Centre for Viral Zoonosis to heads the Arbo and Respiratory virus programs in humans and animals.

In 2016 the Centre for Viral Zoonosis (CVZ), a brainchild of Prof Venter and Prof Wanda Markotter was established. This center is a collaborative program of researchers interested in zoonotic diseases with a steering committee consisting of members in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Health and Veterinary Sciences.  Prof Venter currently heads the Zoonotic Arbo- and Respiratory Virus (ZARV) program, within CVZ, which has a strong focus on clinical research in humans and animals. The program focuses on the investigation of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases in humans and animals associated with febrile, neurological and respiratory syndromes. What makes this Centre unique is the close ties between human and animal health and embodies the true meaning of the “One Health approach” of research in the medical and veterinary fields.

Funding:

Several funders have contributed to the success of the program including the Poliomyelitis Research Foundation (PRF), Medical Research Council (MRC), National Research Foundation (NRF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Global Disease Detection Programme of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention of the USA (GDD-CDC) and now the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin (ANDEMIA program) that aims to define the causes of unknown febrile, respiratory and enteric disease in Africa by improving basic diagnostic and epidemiological capacity in South and West Africa. Prof Venter leads the febrile disease action package for this program. The Unit was part of the University of Pretoria Institutional Research theme on Biotechnology in animal health and zoonosis.