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Discovery of newly emerging viruses:
the role of genomics
Ab Osterhaus
VIRGO Consortium,
Head of the Department of Virology,
ErasmusMC, Rotterdam
Over the last decades there seems to be a dramatic
increase in the emergence or re-emergence of virus
threats in humans and animals worldwide. Ebola, Lassa,
Rift-Valley, Crimea-Congo, Hendra, Nipah and West-Nile
are the exotic names of viruses that crossed the species
boundary to humans, with dramatic consequences in the
last ten years alone.
The most recent examples in humans are the introduction
of SARS coronavirus and influenza A viruses (H5N1 and
H7N7), which caused global concern about their potential
to be at the origin of new pandemics.
In combating this threat, we should make optimal use of
the new tools provided by the unprecedented advances
made in the research areas of molecular biology,
epidemology, genomics and bioinformatics.
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