Location: Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Disease Research
Project Number: 3022-32000-062-012-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
End Date: Jul 31, 2026
Objective:
The objective of this research is to investigate the dynamics of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in two distinct ecological zones; one (premontane tropical forest) in which the virus circulates endemically and one (tropical dry forest) in which the virus initiates periodic outbreaks. Thus, we can probe the dynamics of endemicity and outbreak that play out across North America.
Approach:
In this project, we seek to leverage our existing collaborations across disciplines and across countries to investigate the dynamics of VSV in two ecological zones in Costa Rica, one (premontane tropical forest) in which the virus circulates endemically and one (tropical dry forest) in which the virus initiates periodic outbreaks. Thus, in a single, relatively small country, we can probe the dynamics of endemicity and outbreak that play out across the much larger expanse of North America, resulting in periodic VSV outbreaks in the US. Additionally, in Costa Rica we will mirror our current investigations of the sylvatic cycle of VSV in Mexico in order to ascertain whether similar vectors and hosts may mediate VSV transmission in wildlife across the endemic range of this virus, or whether sylvatic transmission may be idiosyncratic at the regional level.
