Real-time Arbovirus Detection And Response
VB RADAR News
UK VBD conference in Liverpool, December 2024
VB RADAR teams from APHA and UKHSA attended the biennial VBD conference in Liverpool. Arran and Calam gave talks on the ongoing Usutu virus investigation and the utility of mosquitoes for virus surveillance. Some great talks during the two day event from across the VBD spectrum, and a really engaging conference to end the year!
Field season in full swing, July-November 2024
The VB RADAR team have been out and about across southern England during 2024, sampling mosquitoes and birds to help understand flavivirus prevalence and transmission. We would like to say a big thank you to all the land owners, bird observatory staff and bird ringing groups that have supported our sampling effort. To-date 292 passerines have been sampled and over 15,000 mosquitoes have been identified and submitted for molecular screening!
Lights, Camera, BTO Blackbirds in Gardens Survey, June 2024
As part of the VB RADAR project the BTO launched a citizen science initiative to try and get people to record sightings of blackbirds in their gardens from across the UK. We hope data generated will help us understand the impact Usutu virus may have on blackbird populations. If you would like to help please sign up here. Following the launch, Hugh and Arran were invited to talk about the project on ITV news
Rotterdam trip, April 2024
Representatives from all VB-RADAR collaborative institutions jumped on the Eurostar to Rotterdam to discuss surveillance and impact of zoonotic flaviviruses where wild birds are a primary host. We got to share the current UK USUV data and catch up on how active bird surveillance and analysis is undertaken in the Netherlands (a programme that has been running for 8+ years now)
Following a day of talks and lab tours we headed out at the break of dawn to meet bird ringers in Utrecht, a group who undertake sampling for flaviviruses. We got to see first hand how birds are selected, appropriately sampled and released, all while having the highest concern for animal welfare. Overall we had a fantastic trip and come back informed, potential collaborations on the horizon and excited to start sampling wild passerines in the UK for the project.
Project licence approval, December 2023
Pleased to report that our application for a project licence to sample a subset of wild birds in the UK has been approved by the home office, and we plan to be in the field from next March!
GWH fun and overwintering mosquitoes, winter 2023
All founding members of VB RADAR got to say hello over great coffee and even better science at the Garden Wildlife Health 10 year meeting, held at ZSL London. During November and December we have also been out trying to catch overwintering female mosquitoes to see if they can provide any insights into how mosquito-borne viruses survive the winter!
VB-RADAR at the BVZS annual meeting, Nov 2023
David and Becki attended the recent British Veterinary Zoological Society (BVZS) annual conference held in Birmingham, UK. A really useful forum in which to promote the project during the Saturday poster session and engage with practicing wildlife and zoo veterinarians. For anyone interested the poster is now on the gallery section of the website. We also have a 'contact' section on the website so please feel free to reach out to the VB-RADAR team if you have any questions about the project!
Phase two is underway, October 2023
Really happy to announce that Dr Calam Bruce and David I. Lewis have joined the VB-RADAR team as APHA research associate and IoZ wildlife veterinarian, respectively. They have wasted no time in successfully passing their PiL courses and we hope to submit the project licence application before the end of the year. The team at UKHSA have delivered over 5,000 mosquitoes (with a further 3,000 en route) for molecular analysis, which have been collected from across the south of England.
New position advertised, July 2023
The next job linked to VB RADAR is up, we are looking for a wildlife veterinarian who is interested in vector-borne diseases and wild bird health to be based at the Institute of Zoology (closing date 13th August).
Outreach and jobs, May 2023
The VB RADAR team contributed to a workshop to assess what a UK datahub for vector-borne disease should look like, chaired by BBSRC and staff at Imperial College/ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
We now have an active twitter account (@vb_radar) and the research position at APHA has been advertised (closing date June 11th). Please keep an eye out, as other posts linked to the grant will be advertised soon.
Mosquito magnets established, May 2023
Colleagues at UKHSA have set up mosquito traps and provided guidance for staff at bird observatories along the south coast of England. These are operational, and the first tranche of mosquitoes for molecular testing are set to arrive at the APHA in the coming weeks.