SUPR
Resource of viral infections in organic pigs: disease transmission ecology at the interfaces of mosquitoes, rodents and pigs
Dnr:

NAISS 2023/22-785

Type:

NAISS Small Compute

Principal Investigator:

Jiaxin Ling

Affiliation:

Uppsala universitet

Start Date:

2023-08-04

End Date:

2024-09-01

Primary Classification:

10606: Microbiology (medical to be 30109 and agricultural to be 40302)

Webpage:

Allocation

Abstract

Changes in biodiversity and ecosystem composition elicit changes in the viromes of wild animals, which are main drivers for viral zoonotic disease emergence. Organic pig is a fast-growing livestock subsector, which leads to an environment conducive to increased emergence and spread of viral infectious diseases. In this project, we will explore the resources of viral infections in organic pigs, through two important transmission axes: from rodents (reservoirs) or from mosquitoes (vectors), as they are invading to the pig populations with two different seasonal abundances patterns. We will understand the disease landscape at organic pig farming systems. We will evaluate the impact of rodents and mosquitoes on transmission of viral infectious diseases in organic pig farms through investigation on connectivity of rodent-, mosquito-, pig- virome using novel low-cost sequencing techniques combined with state-of-the-art molecular evolutionary analyses. Finally, we assemble sequencing and ecological data into an epidemiological assessment of zoonotic risk on exposure of rodent-borne and mosquito-borne zoonoses to the organic pigs. The studies on disease transmission ecology at the interfaces of rodent-pig, and mosquito-pig will help us to understand the transmission mechanisms for the viral zoonoses in the swine population, and further improve the disease preparedness for the future outbreaks.