Infectious diseases of food animals and fish.
Domestication or intensification of cultivation of most species including human beings leads to a great increase of "new" infectious diseases. One of the most consistent agents to appear in species under intense cultivation is the herpesviruses. Research in my lab has been directed toward understanding and control of vertically transmitted herpesviruses of domestic animals using channel catfish virus as a model.
Work is currently directed to locating and understanding the immediate early gene complex with respect to activation and its role in latency. The answers should provide a diagnostic tool to select virus free brood stock for eradication efforts.
