Laboratory of Virology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Ghent University
The Laboratory of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, has a long tradition in research of the pathogenesis of viral diseases of swine, for which it is internationally recognized. The laboratory has 25 years of experience with swine influenza viruses (SIVs) in Europe. The group was the first to isolate avian-like H1N1 influenza viruses from swine in ‘79 and to demonstrate an association between infection with human-like H3N2 viruses and respiratory disease outbreaks in ‘84. Other major achievements have been the development of a challenge model to test vaccine-efficacy in pigs and clinical studies into the role of swine influenza virus in combined infections with porcine reproductive-respiratory syndrome virus and other respiratory viruses. The role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in influenza pathogenesis and disease, and the immune response following SIV infection or vaccination are major research topics.
Five recent relevant publications:
- Van Reeth K., Nauwynck H.J., Pensaert M.B. 1998 - Bronchoalveolar interferon-a, tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-1 and inflammation during acute influenza in pigs : a possible model for humans? Journal of Infectious Diseases, 177, 1076-1079.
- Van Reeth, K., Labarque, G., De Clercq, S., Pensaert, M. 2001. Efficacy of vaccination of pigs with different H1N1 swine influenza viruses using a recent challenge strain and different parameters of protection. Vaccine, 19: 4479-4486.
- Van Reeth K., Van Gucht S., Pensaert M. 2002 - Correlations between lung proinflammatory cytokine levels, virus replication and disease after swine influenza virus challenge of vaccination-immune pigs. Viral Immunology, 15, 583-594.
- Van Reeth K., Gregory V., Hay A., Pensaert M. 2003 - Protection against a European H1N2 swine influenza virus in pigs previously infected with H1N1 and/or H3N2 subtypes. Vaccine, 21, 1375-1381.
- Van Reeth K., Brown I., Essen S., Pensaert M. 2004. Genetic relationships, serological cross-reaction and cross-protection between influenza A virus subtypes endemic in European pigs. Virus Research, 103, 115-124.
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