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Principal Investigator: Dr. Amy Glaser
Contact Information: Email: alg8@cornell.edu - Phone: 3-3924
Sponsor: NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets
Title: Development of a Real-Time System in Monitoring Zoonotic Species
for Early Warning of Epidemics
Annual Direct Cost: $150,000
Project Period: 9/29/03-9/28/04
The Surveillance for West Nile Virus in Zoological institutions was officially started in August of 2001. The program has successfully established a network of about 136 zoos and animal facilities that submit samples from sick or dead collection animals or wild animals found on zoo grounds all year. Samples are specifically tested for WNV as appropriate for the sample submitted. Tissues are additionally tested for adventitious viruses by virus isolation on species-permissive cell lines. The targeted surveillance will be done primarily by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on RNA from tissues submitted from dead or ill birds, mammals and reptiles. The program will also continue to utilize technologies that will facilitate the identification of novel or emerging viral infections in animal populations such as virus isolation from tissues using both primate and species appropriate cell lines as indicator cells.
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