Viral Diseases in Livestock Animals- A Special Focus Section in Viral Immunology.

Business Editors/Science Writers

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LARCHMONT, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2002

From horses to pigs to cows, this fascinating selection of papers focusing on important viral diseases of animals takes an in-depth look at the varied immune responses to some common viral infections affecting livestock species.

Authors from universities and veterinary institutes around the world contributed to the Special Focus Section in the Volume 15, Number 4, 2002 issue of Viral Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com/vim). The special focus section precedes the regular contents of Viral Immunology, including review and scientific research papers.

"Many infections of livestock species endemic to the United States cost millions of dollars a year to producers and processors," says William T. Golde, Ph.D., Guest Editor of the Special Focus Section, from the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Greenport, NY. "Other viral infections eradicated from the U.S. remain a significant global problem."

Reflecting the broad scope of this field, the papers include a review of equine infectious anemia (EIAV) by Travis C. McGuire, DVM, Ph.D. and co-workers from Washington State University, and a review of the immunological responses of pigs to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection by Michael Murtaugh, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois. Dr. C.K. Johnsen and a group of Danish researchers report on the importance of the cytokines IFN-a and IL-10 in protective immunity against PRRSV. Dr. Murtaugh and colleagues report that adjuvants such as the cytokine IL-12 and cholera toxin can enhance the immune response to live viral vaccine. Steven Krakowka, DVM, Ph.D., from The Ohio State University, and co-authors from the, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland, and the Institute for Immunology and Immunoprophylaxis, Switzerland, describe the immunologic features of porcine circovirus type 2 infection. Dr. K. Van Reeth and co-workers from the Ghent University, Belgium, examine the correlation between cytokine levels, virus replication, and disease in experimental infection with swine influenza virus. The effects of bovine herpesvirus 1 on MHC class I expression is the subject of a paper by S. Srikumaran, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Viral Immunology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal, published in print and online, that centers on the growing body of research in viral immunology, with papers on clinical, veterinary, and laboratory research. Edited by Carol Shoshkes Reiss, Ph.D., it covers topics of interest in human and viral immunology, including viral vaccines, immunological characterization of viral components, viral pathogenesis, viral diagnostics, tumor and cancer immunology, viral immunology methods, and virus-based immunological diseases. A complete table of contents and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/VIM.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsletters is available at www.liebertpub.com.