Detailed Program
Viral epidemiology, evolution & genetics
Virus evolution has rapidly expanded, due to the explosive availability of genomic sequencing. Virus evolution is an interdisciplinary field including virology, genomics, evolutionary biology, epidemiology, ecology, and computational biology. Recently, the field of genomic epidemiology is significantly involved in tracking and investigating the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, viral epidemiology, evolution, and genetics will provide the broad and deep understanding of hantaviral evolution.
Replication, transcription, translation, & assembly
The life cycle of a virus plays a critical role in understanding the virus-host interaction. The step of the viral life cycle consists of replication, transcription, translation, and assembly. These processes elicit the production of infectious viral particles. In addition, the metabolism of viruses provides strategies for the development of vaccines and therapeutics. This section will discuss the recent advance in hantavirology including replication, transcription, translation, and assembly.
Immune responses & pathogenesis
The defense mechanism of a host bridges innate and acquired immunities against viral infections. A variety of innate immune cells, T cells, and B cells provide antiviral mechanisms to control the hantavirus infection. However, hantaviruses have evolved with strategies at the cellular and molecular aspects to evade the host immune system. The immune evasion of hantaviruses plays a critical role in developing pathological outcomes. This section will discuss the recent advances in the immune responses to hantaviral infection and its pathogenesis.
Vaccines, therapeutics & clinical aspects
Hantavirus infections cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) in humans. There are no effective vaccines and therapeutics against hantaviral diseases although clinical cases occur worldwide. The development of new platform vaccines and therapeutics has been accelerated for prevention and preparedness for the post-COVID-19 pandemic. The clinical aspects of hantavirus-induced diseases contribute to understand the development and strategy of antivirals against hantaviruses. This section will provide a broad and deep knowledge of vaccines, therapeutics, and clinical aspects against hantaviral infections.
Diagnosis & emerging hantaviruses
The establishment of rapid and sensitive diagnostic assays plays a critical role in detecting and characterizing emerging infectious viruses. Recently, advanced technologies, including loop-mediated isothermal amplification and next-generation sequencing, contribute to the development of novel serological and molecular assays for the hantaviral diagnosis. The diagnostics provide rapid responsiveness and preparedness for emerging hantaviral diseases. This section will discuss the recent advance and perspectives of diagnostics and preparedness for hantavirus infections.
Session 5 “Diagnosis & emerging hantaviruses”
Keynote Speaker : Dr. Colleen B. Jonsson
(University of Tennessee, USA) Presentation Title : Advancements, challenges, and gaps in surveillance of hantaviruses in wildlife |
|
Dr. Colleen B. Jonsson is a Professor, the Harriet Van Vleet Chair of Excellence in Virology, Director of the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Host-Pathogen Systems at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) in Memphis. She earned the Philosophy of Doctor (Ph.D.) at the Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, USA. Dr. Jonsson’s laboratory has studied the ecological and evolutionary relationships of the hantaviruses in rodents in Paraguay since 2003. The long terms goals of her research have been to define ecological factors that contribute to the spread of the virus in reservoir rodents and spillover into non-reservoir rodents in nature. She is also interested in the intra- and interhost diversity of this virus in natural and disturbed ecosystems and the nature of the viral populations that transmit and persist. |