Research

Funding: BMBF, 122.004 EUR

Project Details:
Every year, about 750,000 people die from mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, rift valley fever and chikungunya fever. The incidence of these diseases is expected to increase significantly over the next few decades, as the ranges of several mosquito species are expanding due to climate
change. Mosquitoes not only transmit diseases, but can also influence the severity of the diseases they transmit. It has been shown in experimental infections of animals, the transmission of arboviruses by mosquito bites compared to artificial infection can lead to an increase in the severity of the disease. In
addition, it is known that the saliva of insects and ticks can promote the progression of vector-borne diseases. The skin is the first organ to be exposed to an arbovirus infection, thus the initial infection events also significantly determine the course of the disease. It is therefore essential for many to investigate a natural infection of the skin via a mosquito bite. So far, this could only be achieved by in-vivo experiments (animal experiments). In this project, an alternative is to be developed by replacing animal models with human skin explants for ethical and physiological reasons. The challenge of this study will be to establish an assay in which mosquitoes can use the skin implants as potential hosts. The goal is a successful biting of the skin explants by mosquitoes. Exemplarily, in a second step the skin explants should be infected via bite of Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) and/or Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV)-infected mosquitoes. If
successful, the project results will allow to choose from different models for future research questions.

Funding: Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, 69.271 EUR

Project Details:
In this project, the population of harbor seals and grey seals will be surveyed over a period of 12 months (2023-2024) to assess their abundance and distribution in the Tidal Elbe area. The aerial surveys of the seal population in the Elbe estuary will take place from August 2023 to July 2024. During the flight along all known and potential haul-out sites, images will be taken with a high-resolution digital SLR camera and subsequently analysed. This conversion to the photo-based method was successfully carried out in previous projects and innovatively further developed in order to be able to provide the client with reliable figures and the highest possible transparency as well as reproducibility of the results.

Funding: HZI, 40.035 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice part 3

Funding: HZI, 26.642 EUR

Project Details:
SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice-Part 2

Funding: HZI, 36.669 EUR

Project Details:
Co-infection of viral or bacterial pathogens with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a mouse model Part 2

Funding: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für wissenschaft und Kultur, 50.000 EUR

Project Details:
Studierenden der Tiermedizin soll eine Kategorisierungsstrategie für die Haltungsumgebung und Erkrankungen von Schweinen bereits in den ersten beiden Fachsemestern vermittelt werden, um in den späteren Semestern erworbenes Wissen zur Nutztiermedizin besser einordnen und damit besser lernen zu können. Damit wird auf fehlendes landwirtschaftliches Vorwissen der Studierenden und auf den Mangel an Nachwuchs für die Nutztiermedizin reagiert. Die Lehreinheit fokussiert sich auf die technischen Bedingungen in der Stallumgebung (z.B. Fütterungstechnik, Bodenbeschaffenheit), welche die Tiergesundheit maßgeblich beeinflussen. Diese bleiben den Studierenden bisher besonders fremd, sofern sie nicht auf einem landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb aufgewachsen sind. Es sollen dafür vier unterschiedliche Haltungssysteme für Schweine als 360°-Rundgänge gefilmt, für die interaktive Tourengestaltung vorbereitet und mit Informationsmaterial hinterlegt werden. Dazu wird jeweils ein klinischer Fall so aufgearbeitet, dass nur ein offener Blick sowie technischer und biologischer Grundverstand, der ab Studienbeginn vorausgesetzt werden kann, nötig sind, um die Arbeitsaufgabe im Sinne einer Schnitzeljagd zu lösen, bzw. das Grundproblem zu identifizieren. Alle Informationen, die darüberhinausgehend benötigt werden, um den Fall zu lösen, werden an Infopunkten zur Verfügung gestellt. Die Lernkontrolle erfolgt anhand eines weiteren Falls in einer der virtuellen Stallumgebungen ohne Infopunkte und wird asynchron durch den Lehrenden bewertet.

Funding: Nationalparkverwaltung "Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer", Virchowstr. 1, 26383 Wilhelmshaven, 38.243 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Lower Saxony and Hamburg Wadden Sea during the birthing season (November-December) 2023 and at the time of the fur change (March-April) 2024.
On five trilaterally coordinated dates (three during the birthing season; two during the fur-change period), airborne surveys will be conducted with a single-engine aircraft. During the aerial surveys of the tidal flats, a high-resolution SLR camera will be used to photograph the haul-outs. In order to determine the number of young born as well as the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Results:

Schop, J., Brasseur, S. M. J. M., Galatius, A., Hamm, T., Jeß, A., Meise, K., Meyer, J., Stejskal, O., Siebert, U., Teilmann, J., & Thøstesen, C. B. (2024). Grey Seal Numbers in the Wadden Sea and on Helgoland in 2023-2024. Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Expert Group Marine Mammals.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15728068

Funding: Europa-Programm des Niedersächsischen Ministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kultur aus Mitteln von SPRUNG, 79.770 EUR

Project Details:
The focus is on studying the evolution of viruses in the two hosts arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks) and mammals and the implications for host receptor usage.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Félix Rey, Institut Pasteur, Paris, Frankreich

Funding: BMBF, 198.361 EUR

Project Details:
Noroviruses are the most prevalent viral cause of acute gastroenteritis. At least 40 noroviruses have been
described, with new variants regularly emerging. Norovirus evolution, emergence, and circulation are not
entirely understood, especially the role of a potential animal reservoir is insufficiently investigated. Several
lines of evidence suggest norovirus transmission between humans and animals. However, there is no in
vitro system to investigate interspecies transmission to date. Here we set out to establish an ex vivo system
based on intestinal biopsies of various animal species to investigate interspecies norovirus transmission
experimentally. We will use biopsies of dogs, pigs, and chickens as they are highly abundant and kept in
close contact with humans. The risk for transmission is therefore increased. Precision-cut intestinal slices
will be set up and used to investigate norovirus binding, entry/internalization, and replication in the
respective host tissues. Furthermore, the role of the known susceptibility factors, the histo blood group
antigens, will be investigated. Once established, this explant system will allow the investigation of norovirus
receptors, attachment factors and other host determinants in humans and non-human animal species. The
system will also be valuable for investigating other enteric viruses with zoonotic potential, including
coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and dog and pig-specific noroviruses.

Funding: KWS Lochow GmbH, 61.988 EUR

Project Details:
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