Services for Researchers
Sets of overlapping peptides for 11 West Nile Virus (WNV) proteins were made available in winter 2005 through the NIAID Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Resources Repository. The peptides are being used for vaccine research as well as immunology research to assess the body's response following exposure to WNV. NIAID has expanded its funding of WNV research in academic and private-sector laboratories. This includes establishing two Emerging Viral Diseases Research Centers in New York and Texas, with collaborating laboratories in Colorado, Massachusetts, and several other states. These centers focus on West Nile and other emerging viruses.
NIAID funds the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses (WRCEVA) at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. This Reference Center characterizes numerous viruses spread by mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects and animals to people and domestic animals. It also investigates the epidemiology of the diseases these viruses cause. WRCEVA houses a repository of more than 4,000 viruses representing 16 virus families (including 400 isolates, or strains, of West Nile Virus) collected from various species of animals and mosquitoes in different geographic locations. Viruses, nucleic acids, and viral antibody preparations from the repository are available to qualified researchers in the United States and other countries.
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