Document text
Principal Investigator: DAVID WANG
Organization: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $1,615,955
Funding agency: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
SUMMARY
To prepare for the next emerging infection, our goal is to establish a state-of-the-art Emerging
Infectious Diseases Research Center with surveillance for the key disease syndromes – respiratory disease,
encephalitis and fever of unknown origin– that have been observed most frequently associated with emerging
viruses in the past few decades. In parallel, surveillance of animal and insect vectors will be performed to
identify the origins of and define transmissions patterns associated with, these novel emerging viruses. The
Center includes four international surveillance sites–China, Hong Kong, Nepal and Ethiopia– which were
carefully selected on the basis of having either an established history of viral emergence or high potential to
capture such events. China, Hong Kong and Nepal are all situated in Southeast Asia, which has historically
been a nidus for many emerging viruses such as H5N1 influenza, SARS Coronavirus, Severe Fever and
Thrombocytopenia virus, and the very recently reported Alongshan virus. Ethiopia, along with Northeastern
Africa, is at high risk for emergence of MERS Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) due to endemicity of MERS in camels,
a key reservoir in the region. To identify novel or emerging viruses, we will use complementary virus family-
specific consensus PCR and unbiased next generation sequencing approaches and then sequence their
complete genomes. Subsequently, we will generate key reagents essential for establishment of diagnostic
assays and the study of fundamental aspects of viral pathogenesis, epidemiology, and immune control. These
include development of cell culture systems, targeted RT-PCR/PCR assays, serological assays, monoclonal
antibodies for antigen detection and potential therapeutic applications, mouse models of infection, and if
appropriate, ferret models of virus transmission. An additional component of the center is international capacity
building. Initial efforts focus on two exemplar viruses: MERS-CoV, a recently emerged virus, and a highly
variant Dengue virus, Dengue virus 5, which is has prevalence and emergence potential. MERS-CoV is a
deadly zoonotic respiratory pathogen with a case fatality rate of ~35% to date. We will implement surveillance
for these viruses and develop additional reagents and assays to characterize their epidemiology and
pathogenic potential. These efforts will establish and validate the critical infrastructure necessary to respond to
a new emerging infectious disease. In the event of a new outbreak, efforts will be reprioritized to focus on
response to the new emerging threat. The priorities, in order, are: (1) Human and animal surveillance for
novel/emerging viruses; (2) Assay and reagent development; (3) Define epidemiology of novel/emerging
viruses; (4) Pathogenesis, immune control, transmission and treatment of novel/emerging viruses.
Terms: <Africa><Animal Model><Animal Models and Related Studies><Animals><Assay><Bio-Informatics><Bioassay><Bioinformatics><Biological Assay><Brain Inflammation><Breakbone Fever Virus><Camels><Case Fatality Rates><Cell Culture System><China><Clinical><Clinical Treatment Moab><Consensus><Consultations><Coronaviridae><Coronavirus><DENV><DNA Molecular Biology><Dengue><Dengue Virus><Dengue fever virus><Development><Diagnostic><Disease><Disease Surveillance><Disorder><Emerging Communicable Diseases><Emerging Infectious Diseases><Emerging infection><Encephalitis><Epidemiology><Ethiopia><Event><Family><Federation of Malaya><Ferrets><Fever><Fever of Unknown Origin><Genetic><Genome><Genomics><Goals><Grippe><H5N1><H5N1 virus><History><Hong Kong><Hongkong><Human><Immune><Immunes><Immunology><Infection><Infectious Diseases / Laboratory><Infectious Diseases Research><Influenza><Influenza A H5N1><Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype><Infrastructure><Insect Vectors><International><MERS><MERS corona virus><MERS coronavirus><MERS coronavirus disease><MERS virus><MERS-CoV><MERS-CoV disease><Mainland China><Malay Federation><Malaya><Malaysia><Metadata><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoV disease><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Virus><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus disease><Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV><Middle East Respiratory Virus><Middle East Respiratory coronavirus><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome CoV disease><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome Virus><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus disease><Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome-CoV><Modeling><Modern Man><Molecular Biology><Monoclonal Antibodies><NGS Method><NGS system><NIAID><National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease><Nepal><Pathogenesis><Pathogenicity><Pattern><Prevalence><Public Health><Pyrexia><RT-PCR><RTPCR><Reagent><Recording of previous events><Reporting><Research Specimen><Respiratory Disease><Respiratory System Disease><Respiratory System Disorder><Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction><SARS Virus><SARS corona virus><SARS coronavirus><SARS-Associated Coronavirus><SARS-CoV><SARS-CoV-1><SARS-Related Coronavirus><Serology><Serology test><Seroprevalences><Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome corona virus><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus><Site><Southeast Asia><Southeastern Asia><Specimen><Syndrome><Therapeutic><Thrombocytopenia><Thrombopenia><Time><Transmission><Variant><Variation><Viral><Viral Pathogenesis><Viral Receptor><Virus><Virus Receptors><Zoonoses><Zoonotic><Zoonotic Infection><animal model development><antigen based detection><antigen detection><assay development><avian influenza H5N1><avian influenza H5N1 virus><consultation><corona virus><detect antigen><developmental><diagnostic assay><diagnostic development><emergent infection><emergent outbreak><emergent virus><emerging outbreak><emerging virus><epidemiologic><epidemiological><febrile><febris><high risk><histories><mAbs><meta data><model of animal><monoclonal Abs><mouse model><murine model><neutralizing antibody><new outbreak><next gen sequencing><next generation sequencing><nextgen sequencing><novel><novel outbreak><novel virus><respiratory pathogen><respiratory virus><response><reverse transcriptase PCR><serology assay><severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV><surveillance study><therapeutic candidate><transmission process><vector><viral emergence><viral transmission><virology><virus pathogenesis><virus transmission>