CReSA declared new member of the world's main virus research network
The UAB is home Cresta one of the leading centres in animal virus and disease studies, the Animal Health Research Centre (CReSA), which has now become a member of the main viral disease research network existing. Only 34 entities have been recognised as centres of excellence belonging to the Global Virus Network.
The GVN aims to create ties among the world's leaders in virology with the objective of developing cures and prevention strategies against viral diseases which can affect humans. In addition to CReSA, new members include the research network at the State University of New York at Buffalo. With these new incorporations, the GVN now includes 34 centres of excellence, of which only eight of them are European.
CReSA was created in 1999 by the UAB and the Institute for Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture. It focuses on research and development of technology, as well as training and academic studies in the field of animal health in all of its aspects. It contains the human potential of research into animal health from both of its founding institutions and makes use of a technologically advanced building, located near the UAB Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and equipped with a Class III biocontainment laboratory, to conduct research, join forces and channel new resources.
In its official bulletin, the GVN describes CReSA as a "leading international research centre in animal health and implications for human health" and highlights the research the centre has conducted on the West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever, chikungunya, bluetongue disease, MERS-CoV virus and pestivirus.