The public health burden of respiratory infections (such as influenza and COVID -19) is not adequately addressed by existing vaccines and antivirals.
Identifying approaches that interfere with human-to-human transmission of respiratory viruses remains a pressing need.
In this programme of work, we shall evaluate the ability of novel antiviral and innate immune stimulators which have been identified in small animal models, to block transmission in a relevant large natural host animal model, the pig.
The pig is physiologically, anatomically, immunologically, and genetically more similar to humans than small animals and is a natural host for very similar influenza and coronaviruses to humans. Furthermore, the lung structure and morphology closely resemble the human and antibody responses to influenza have a very similar specificity to humans.
This project will address transmission blocking of influenza virus, but in principle the methodology could be extended to other respiratory viruses. The target population of such transmission blockers will be uninfected individuals and therefore, we will test the ability of the novel therapeutics to block the acquisition of virus in a prophylactic setting.
The outcomes of this work will advance our ability to control respiratory infections and reduce the impact of pandemics and seasonal outbreaks.
