Board members Archives - ABCD cats & vets

Maria Grazia Pennisi

Board Member

Maria Grazia Pennisi qualified from the faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Messina (Italy) in 1979. She obtained her PhD in applied Microbiology in 1982 and won scholarships to attend the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno (Portici, Naples) and the National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche,Rome).
From 1983 to 1991, she was appointed researcher in Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the University of Messina.
In 1991, she became Associate Professor and in 2000 Full Professor in Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the same faculty.
Since 1997 she is member of the editorial board of the journals “Bollettino AIVPA” and “Rassegna di Medicina Felina”.
She was Board member of the Associazione Italiana Veterinari Patologia Felina (Italian Veterinary Association for Feline Diseases) from 2005 to 2011 and is honour member of AIVPA (Associazione Italiana Veterinari Piccoli Animali). Since 2006 she is founding member of the international association LeishVet.
She has a particular interest in feline medicine, feline infectious diseases, clinical immunology and small animal arthropod borne diseases. She is author or co-author of some 140 papers published in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and is a frequent invited speaker at national and international congresses.

My list of 10 selected publications

PENNISI MG (2002) A high prevalence of feline leishmaniasis in southern Italy. In: Canine leishmaniasis: moving towards a solution. Proceedings of the second International Canine Leishmaniasis Forum. Sevilla , Spain 2002, 39-48.
PENNISI M.G., VENZA M, REALE S, VITALE F, LO GIUDICE S (2004). Case report of leishmaniasis in four cats. Veterinary Research Communications, 28: S363- S366, ISSN: 0165-7380.
PENNISI M.G.; DE MAJO M; MASUCCI M; BRITTI D; VITALE F; DEL MASO R (2005). Efficacy of the treatment of dogs with leishmaniosis with a combination of metronidazole and spiramycin. VETERINARY RECORD (ISSN:0042-4900), 156:346- 349.
MASUCCI M, GULOTTA L, MALARA D, PERILLO L, PENNISI MG (2006). Autoanticorpi sierici in corso di infezione da FIV. ATTI SISVet, 60: 239-240, ISSN: 1825-4454.
PENNISI MG, ALONGI A, AGNONE A, VITALE F, REALE S, TORINA A (2007). Cats as reservoir of Babesia microti. Parassitologia, 49:100.
MAROLI M, PENNISI MG, DI MUCCIO T, KHOURY C, GRADONI L, GRAMICCIA M (2007). Infection of sandflies by a cat naturally infected with Leishmania infantum. Veterinary Parasitology, 145: 357-360, ISSN: 0304-4017.
BRIANTI E, PENNISI MG, RISITANO A.L, GAGLIO G, GIANNETTO S (2008). Feline aelurostrongylosis an understimated disease: prevalence study and therapeutic trial in cats of southern Italy. Parassitologia, 50, ISSN: 0048-2951.
Solano-Gallego L., Koutinas A., Mirò G., Cardoso L., Pennisi M.G., Ferrer L., Bourdeau P., Oliva G., Baneth G. (2009). Directions for the diagnosis, clinical staging, treatment and prevention of canine leishmaniosis. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY (ISSN:0304-4017), 1- 18, 165.
PENNISI MG, LA CAMERA E, GIACOBBE L, ORLANDELLA B.M., LENTINI V, ZUMMO S, FERA M.T. (2010). Molecular detection of Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae in clinical samples of pet cats from Southern Italy. Research in Veterinary Science, 88: 379-384. ISSN: 0034-5288.
Lombardo G, Pennisi MG, Lupo T, Migliazzo A, Caprì A, Solano-Gallego L (2012). Detection of Leishmania infantum DNA by real-time PCR in canine oral and conjunctival swabs and comparison with other diagnostic techniques. VETERINARY PARASITOLOGY (ISSN:0304-4017), 184:10-17.

Alan Radford

Board Member

Alan Radford‘s main interests are in the genetic evolution of pathogens, especially viruses. His particular feline favourite is feline calicivirus, one of the main causes of feline upper respiratory tract disease (cat ‘flu).

Other recent projects include parvoviruses and coronavirus. Alan uses techniques including large scale structured sampling, robust phylogeny (tree drawing), and sequencing methods including both traditional Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing. When applied together, these give new and powerful insights into the way pathogens like FCV evolve.

His other main interest is the use of electronic data for disease surveillance, and with colleagues at Liverpool is developing the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network. SAVSNET uses a strict ethical protocol to allow it to collect large volumes of electronic data from both vets in practice and from commercial diagnostic labs. Over time, this data should build into a unique resource to explore new and existing disease burdens in companion animals, and how these change in space and time (www.liv.ac.uk/ savant).

My list of 10 selected publications

AD Radford, PC Turner, M Bennett, F McArdle, S Dawson, MA Glenn, RA Williams & RM Gaskell (1998). Quasispecies evolution of a hypervariable region of the feline calicivirus capsid gene in cell culture and in persistently infected cats. Journal of General Virology 79, 1-10.
AD Radford, K Willoughby, S Dawson, C McCracken & RM Gaskell (1999). The capsid gene of feline calicivirus contains linear B-cell epitopes in both variable and conserved regions. Journal of Virology 73 (10), 8496-8502.
AD Radford, LM Sommerville, S Dawson, AM Kerins, R Ryvar, & RM Gaskell (2001). Molecular analysis of feline calicivirus isolates within a complex feline population in a rescue shelter. Veterinary Record 149, 477-481.
LJ Kennedy, R Ryvar, J Brown, WER Ollier & AD Radford (2003). Resolution of complex feline leucocyte antigen DRB loci by reference strand-mediated conformational analysis (RSCA). Tissue Antigens 62, 313-323.
KP Coyne, RM Gaskell, S Dawson, CJ Porter and AD Radford (2007). Evolutionary mechanisms of persistence and diversification of a calicivirus within endemically infected natural host populations. Journal of Virology 81(4): 1961-71.
CJ Porter, AD Radford, RM Gaskell, R Ryvar, KP Coyne, GL Pinchbeck and S Dawson (2008). Comparison of the ability of feline calicivirus (FCV) vaccines to neutralise a panel of current UK FCV isolates. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 10: 32-40.
J Stavisky, GL Pinchbeck, AJ German, S Dawson, RM Gaskell, R Ryvar and AD Radford (2010). The prevalence of canine enteric coronavirus in a cross-sectional survey of dogs presenting at veterinary practices. Veterinary Microbiology 140, 18-24.
EN Barker, CR Helps, IR Peters, AC Darby, AD Radford and S Tasker (2011). Complete genome sequence of Mycoplasma haemofelis, a hemotropic mycoplasma. Journal of Bacteriology 193, 2060-1.
SR Clegg, KP Coyne, S Dawson, SA Godsall, G Pinchbeck, PJ Cripps, RM Gaskell and AD Radford (2011). Molecular epidemiology and phylogeny reveal complex spatial dynamics in areas where canine parvovirus is endemic. Journal of Virology 85, 7892-7899.
SR Clegg, KP Coyne, S Dawson, N Spibey, RM Gaskell and AD Radford (2012). Canine parvovirus in asymptomatic feline carriers. Veterinary Microbiology (accepted).

Marian C. Horzinek

Board Member

Professor Marian C. Horzinek was the scientific founder of ABCD and chairman until 2014. On July 28, 2016, he passed away in his 80^th year of life.

Professor Horzinek studied veterinary medicine in Germany at Giessen and Hannover Universities, from 1956 to 1961. A year later he obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (Dr. med.vet.) and in 1970 he gained his ‘Habilitation’ (a PhD equivalent) in virology. He began his career in virology at the Public Health Laboratory in Hannover, where he worked as a research fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. He later helped to establish the Chair of Virology at Hannover Veterinary School, and then spent a year as a research fellow at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas in Caracas, Venezuela.

Upon his return, he became Head of the Exotic Diseases Division at the Federal Research Institute for Animal Virus Diseases in Tübingen, Germany. In 1971, he moved to The Netherlands where he was appointed Head of Department and Professor of Virology and Virus Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University. After 1992, Professor Horzinek has been director of Utrecht University’s Institute of Veterinary Research, and from 1996 until his retirement in 2001, he directed the Graduate School of Animal Health.

Professor Horzinek has been associate professor at the Veterinary School in Hannover, Germany, courtesy professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, USA, and clinical professor of virology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, USA. During the last ten years, he has established and chaired scientific advisory boards at the universities of Vienna (Austria) and Barcelona (Spain).

During his career, Professor Horzinek has gained prizes and awards from research organizations in Europe, Australia and Asia, and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Ghent (Belgium), Hannover (Germany), Uppsala (Sweden), Vienna (Austria) and Guelph (Canada).

His publications include >300 scientific papers and more than 30 books and monographs, handbooks in several languages and CD-ROM articles. He has been an editor or editorial board member for scientific journals published in the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, France and Italy. He is the founding president of the European (now: International) Society of Feline Medicine, of the German Gesellschaft für Kynologische Forschung, the Prevention of Equine Diseases (PrEquId) Board, and recently became ambassador of the Black Jaguar Foundation, a non-profit organization with the objective to save the rainforest.

List of 10 selected publications

Day MJ, Horzinek MC, Schultz RD., Squires, R.A.. WSAVA Guidelines for the vaccination of dogs and cats. Compiled by the vaccination guidelines group (VGG) of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA).J Small Anim Pract. 2016 57(1):4-8 and E1-E45.
Horzinek, M.C. Vaccination protocols for companion animals: the veterinarian’s perspective. J.Comp.Path. (2010) 142, 129-132.
Horzinek MC, Thiry E. Vaccines and vaccination: the principles and the polemics. J Feline Med Surg. 2009 Jul;11(7):530-7. Review.
de Wit MC, Horzinek MC, Haagmans BL, Schijns VE. Immunisation with virion-loaded plasmacytoid or myeloid dendritic cells induces primary Th-1 immune responses. Vaccine. 2005. 23, 1343-1350.
Simons FA, Vennema H, Rofina JE, Pol JM, Horzinek MC, Rottier PJ, Egberink HF. A mRNA PCR for the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis. J Virol Methods. 2005. 124, 111-116.
Horzinek, M.C., Schmidt, V. and Lutz, H. Krankheiten der Katze. Enke Verlag Stuttgart, 4.Auflage (2005).
de Wit, M.C., Horzinek, M.C., Haagmans, B.L., Schijns, V.E.J.C. Host-dependent type 1 cytokine responses driven by inactivated viruses may fail to default in the absence of IL-12 or IFN-a/ß. Journal of General Virology 2004. 85 (4) , 795-803.
Smits, S. L., Lavazza, A., Matiz, K., Horzinek, M. C., Koopmans, M. P., de Groot, R. J. (2003) Phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships among torovirus field variants: evidence for multiple intertypic recombination events. J Virol. 77, 9567-9577.
Horzinek MC Vaccination: a philosophical view. Adv Vet Med 1999;41:1-6.
Murphy, F.A., Gibbs, P., Horzinek, M.C. and Studdert, M. Veterinary Virology. Academic Press, New York (1998).

Séverine Tasker

Board Member

Séverine Tasker, BSc BVSc (Hons) PhD DSAM DipECVIM-CA PGCertHE FHEA FRCVS

After graduation from Bristol Veterinary School, Séverine spent time working for a charity veterinary practice before moving to Edinburgh to complete a FAB (now ICatCare) Residency in Feline Medicine. She then returned to the University of Bristol and completed a PhD in feline haemoplasmosis in 2002. She remained at Bristol, becoming Professor in Feline Medicine in 2016, where she worked for Langford Vets in the Feline Centre and the Molecular Diagnostic Unit, and was involved in teaching and research. Séverine now holds an honorary chair at Bristol Veterinary School and is Chief Medical Officer for Linnaeus, and she is interested in all aspects of feline medicine, especially infectious diseases and haematological disorders and edited the BSAVA Manual of Feline Practice; A Foundation Manual. Séverine is a recent recipient of the BSAVA Woodrow Award for outstanding contributions in small animal veterinary medicine and the Petplan Charitable Trust Research Award for outstanding contributions in the field of veterinary research.

My list of 10 most recent infectious disease publications (December 2022):

1. Spada E, Galluzzo P, Torina A, Loria GR, Perego R, Grippi F, Blanda V, Baggiani L, D’Amico A, Pennisi MG, Helps CR, Malik R, Westman M, Gandolfi B, Spencer S, Proverbio D & Tasker S (2022) Evaluation of association between either blood genotype or blood phenotype and haemoplasma infection in UK and Italian cats. Veterinary Record Oct 12;e2282. doi: 10.1002/vetr.2282.

2. Maggi R, Halls V, Kramer F, Lappin M, Grazia Pennisi M, Peregrine A, Roura X, Schunack B, Scorza V, Tasker S, Baneth G, Bordeau P, Bowman DD, Breitschwerdt E, Capelli G, Cardoso L, Dantas-Torres F, Dobler G, Ferrer L, Gradoni L, Irwin P, Jongejan F, Kempf VAJ, Kohn B, Little S, Madder M, Maia C, Marcondes M, Miró G, Naucke T, Oliva G, Otranto D, Penzhorn BL, Pfeffer M, Sainz A, Shin S, Solano-Gallego L, Straubinger RK, Traub R & Wright I. (2022) Vector-borne and other pathogens of potential relevance disseminated by relocated cats Parasites & Vectors 15, 415.

3. Tasker S. (2022) Hemotropic mycoplasma. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice 52, 1319-1340.

4. Garcia‑Torres M, López MC, Tasker S, Lappin MR, Blasi‑Brugué C & Roura X. (2022) Review and statistical analysis of clinical management of feline leishmaniosis caused by Leishmania infantum. Parasites & Vectors 15, 253.

5. Attipa C, Yiapanis C, Tasker S & Diakou A. (2021) Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in cats from Cyprus. Pathogens 10, 882 (20%)

6. Taylor S, Spada E, Callan MB, Korman R, Leister E, Steagall P, Lobetti R, Seth M & Tasker S. (2021) 2021 ISFM Consensus Guidelines on the Collection and Administration of Blood and Blood Products in Cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 23, 410-432.

7. Barker EN & Tasker .S (2020) Advances in Molecular Diagnostics and Treatment of Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Advances in Small Animal Care 1 161–188.

8. Malbon AJ, Michalpoulou E, Meli ML, Barker EN, Tasker S, Baptiste K & Kipar A. (2020) Colony stimulating factors in early feline infectious peritonitis virus infection of monocytes and in end stage feline infectious peritonitis; a combined in vivo and in vitro approach. Pathogens 9, 893.

9. Malbon A, Russo G, Burgener C, Barker EN, Meli ML, Tasker S & Kipar A. (2020) The Effect of Natural Feline Coronavirus Infection on the Host Immune Response: A Whole-Transcriptome Analysis of the Mesenteric Lymph Nodes in Cats with and without Feline Infectious Peritonitis Pathogens 9, 524.

10. Barker EN, Lait P, Ressel L, Blackwell E-J, Tasker S, Kedward-Dixon H, Kipar A & Helps CR. (2020) Evaluation of Interferon-Gamma Polymorphisms as a Risk Factor in Feline Infectious Peritonitis Development in Non-Pedigree Cats—A Large Cohort Study. Pathogens 9, 535.

Etienne Thiry

Board Member

Etienne Thiry is professor emeritus and head of veterinary virology and viral diseases laboratory, faculty of veterinary medicine, university of Liège (ULg), Belgium. He is also part time professor of veterinary virology at the free university of Brussels (ULB). He was the head of the department of infectious and parasitic diseases of the veterinary faculty at ULg from 2001 to 2006. E. Thiry was born on the 4th of April 1957 in Brussels. He graduated as doctor in veterinary medicine in 1980 (ULg).He got a master of sciences in molecular biology in 1982 (ULB) and a doctorate in veterinary sciences in 1985 (ULg). In 1992, he was graduated in medical epidemiology from the university Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. He was recognized in 2001 as diplomate of the European College for Veterinary Public Health. He won the International Pfizer award by the international committee of the World Buiatrics (bovine medicine) Society in 1996. He won the Gaston Ramon award by the French Academy of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. The Fédération des Associations francophones des vétérinaires d’Animaux de Compagnie (FAFVAC) recently awarded him with the prix de la Francophonie in 2011.

Etienne Thiry is member of the National Committee for Microbiology of the Belgian Royal Academy since 1999. He was the treasurer of the Belgian Society for Microbiology for ten years. He was the president of the Belgian Association of Animal Health and Epidemiology from 1999 to 2006. From 1994 to 2000, he was member of the board of the European Society for Veterinary Virology. He takes part to several scientific committees. Among others, he is member of the scientific committee of the Belgian Federal Food Safety Agency, the Belgian Scientific Committee for Influenza, the Belgian Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products and the scientific council as well as the expert committee for animal health at the French Food Safety Agency (Anses). He is also appointed as member (former acting chairman and vice-chairman) of the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD).

His research interests cover several aspects of animal virology, especially herpesviruses, caliciviruses, hepeviruses and orbiviruses. The study of animal virus-host interactions is the main topic of research of his laboratory. Especially the evolution of viral populations through recombination and reassortment of viral genetic sequences is investigated in alphaherpesvirus, norovirus and orbivirus genomes. The study of the cluster of ruminant alphaherpesviruses related to bovine herpesvirus 1, the zoonotic potential of hepatitis E virus, the molecular epidemiology of the foodborne noroviruses, sapoviruses and kobuviruses and the genetic variation of feline calicivirus are also part of his research activities. These scientific activities generated more than 380 papers in specialised scientific journals and 250 communications in scientific congresses. He was invited to publish a review on recombination in alphaherpesviruses in Reviews in Medical Virology. He was appointed in 2007 as guest editor of the special issue of the journal Veterinary Research on respiratory viruses of domestic animals. He already published four books in the collection Clinical Virology (Le Point Vétérinaire – Wolters-Kluwer) on clinical virology of ruminants, dogs and cats, swine and equids.

etienne.thiry@ulg.ac.be

https://www.fmv.uliege.be/cms/c_4760148/en/department-of-infectious-and-parasitic-diseases

My list of 10 selected publications

Zicola A., Jolly S., Mathijs E., Ziant D., Decaro N., Mari V., Thiry E. Fatal outbreaks in dogs associated with pantropic canine coronavirus in France and Belgium. J. Small Anim. Pract., 2012, in press.
Mauroy A., Gillet L., Mathijs E., Vanderplasschen A., Thiry E. Alternative attachment factors and internalisation pathways for GIII.2 bovine noroviruses. J. Gen. Virol., 2011, 92, 1398-1409.
Mathijs E., Muylkens B., Mauroy A., Ziant D., Delwiche T.,Thiry E. Experimental evidence of recombination in murine noroviruses. J. Gen. Virol., 2010, 91, 2723-2733.
Zicola A., Saegerman C., Quatpers D., Viandier J., Thiry E. Feline herpesvirus 1 and feline calicivirus infections in a heterogeneous cat population of a rescue shelter. J. Feline Med. Surg., 2009, 11, 1023-1027.
Muylkens B., Farnir F., Meurens F., Schynts F., Vanderplasschen A., Georges M., Thiry E. Co-infection with two closely related alphaherpesviruses results in a highly diversified recombination mosaic displaying negative genetic interference. J. Virol., 2009, 83, 3127-3137.
Davison A.J., Eberle R., Ehlers B., Hayward G.S., McGeoch D.J., Minson A.C., Pellett P.E., Roizman B., Studdert M.J., Thiry E. The Order Herpesvirales. Virology Division News. Arch. Virol., 2009, 154, 171-177.
Gaskell R., Dawson S., Radford A., Thiry E. Feline herpesvirus. Vet. Res., 2007, 38, 337-354.
Thiry E., Zicola A., Addie D., Egberink H., Hartmann K., Lutz H., Poulet H., Horzinek M.C. Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus in cats and other carnivores. Vet. Microbiol., 2007, 122, 25-31.
Thiry E., Horzinek M.C. Vaccination guidelines: a bridge between official requirements and the daily use of vaccines. In: P.-P. Pastoret, M. Lombard, A.A.Schudel (Coordinators).Animal vaccination Part 2: scientific, economic, regulatory and socio-ethical aspects Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2007, 26, 511-517.
Thiry E., Meurens F., Muylkens B., Mc Voy M., Gogev S., Thiry J., Vanderplasschen A., Epstein A., Keil G.M., Schynts F. Recombination in alphaherpesviruses. Rev. Med. Virol., 2005, 15, 89-103.

Uwe Truyen

Board Member

Uwe Truyen graduated at the Hannover Veterinary School in 1986 and did his postgraduate studies at the Hannover Veterinary School, the James A Baker Institute at Cornell University in Ithaca, and the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich.

He obtained his Ph.D. equivalent (Habilitation) in virology in 1995 in Munich, and was appointed Professor for Molecular Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases in 1999. In 2003 he was appointed Professor for Epidemiology at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Leipzig, and in 2006, he accepted the Professorship for Animal Hygiene and Control of Epidemic Diseases and the chair of the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health at the University of Leipzig. He served as the dean of the Veterinary faculty in Leipzig from 2010-2013.

He is a board certified specialist (Fachtierarzt) for Microbiology, for Virology, for Animal Hygiene, and for Epidemiology. He is Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Microbiology (ECVM).

His main interest has been for many years the molecular epidemiology of carnivore parvoviruses and feline caliciviruses, but has shifted in recent years to hygiene management and disinfection.

He was the editor-in-chief (Virology) of Veterinary Microbiology, and is currently chairman of the German standing veterinary vaccination committee (StIKo Vet), and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Federal Research Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

Uwe Truyen is married and has three children.

My list of 10 selected publications:

Kaaden, O.-R., U. Truyen, M. H. Groschup, E. Kaiser, A. Uysal, H. Kretzschmar, J. Pohlenz und E. Dahme (1994). Bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Germany. J. Vet. Med. B 41, 294-304.
Truyen, U., A. Gruenberg, S.-F. Chang, P. Veijalainen, B. Obermaier und C. R. Parrish (1995). Evolution of the feline subgroup parvoviruses and the control of canine host range. J. Virol. 69, 4702-4710.
Geissler, K., K. Schneider, A. Fleuchaus, C. R. Parrish, G. Sutter und U. Truyen (1999). Feline calicivirus capsid protein expression and capsid assembly in cultured feline cells. J. Virol. 73, 834-838.
Shackelton, L.A., C.R. Parrish, U. Truyen und E. C. Holmes. 2005. High Rate of Viral Evolution Associated with the Emergence of Carnivore Parvovirus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA102, 379-384.
S. Wilhelm, S. Essbauer und U. Truyen. 2008. Substitution of vaccinia virus Elstree by modified vaccinia virus Ankara MVA to test the virucidal efficacy of chemical disinfectants. Zoonoses and Public Health 55, 99-105.
Köhler, A.T., Rodloff, A.C., Labahn, M., Reinhardt, M., Truyen, U., Speck, S. 2019. Evaluation of disinfectant efficacy against multidrug-resistant bacteria: a comprehensive analysis of different methods. Am J Infect Control. 2019 47(10):1181-1187.
Eisenlöffel L, Reutter T, Horn M, Schlegel S, Truyen U, Speck S. 20.19. Impact of UVC-sustained recirculating air filtration on airborne bacteria and dust in a pig facility. PLoS One. 14(11):e0225047.
Streck, A.F., Canal,C.W., Truyen. 2022. Viral fitness and antigenic determinants of porcine parvovirus at the amino acid level of the capsid protein.J Virol. 26; 96(2) 01198-21.
Abd El Wahed, A., Patel, P., Maier, M., Pietsch, C., Rüster, D., Böhlken-Fascher, S., Kissenkötter, J., Behrmann, O., Frimpong, M., Moïse Diagne, M., Faye, M., Dia, N., Shalaby, M.A., Amer, H., Elgamal, M., Zaki, A., Ismail, G., Kaiser, M., Corman, V.M., Niedrig, M., Landt, O., Faye, O., Sall, A.A., Hufert, F.T., Truyen, U., Liebert, U.G., Weidmann, M. 2021. Suitcase lab for rapid detection of SARS-Cov-2 based on recombinase polymerase amplification assay. Anal Chem. 2;93(4):2627-2634.
Tanneberger, F., Abd El Wahed, A., Fischer, M., Deutschmann, P., Roszyk, H., Carrau, T., Blome, S., Truyen, U. 2022. Efficacy of Liming Forest Soil in the Context of African Swine Fever Virus. Viruses 31;14(4):734.

Tim Gruffydd-Jones

Board Member

Tim Gruffydd-Jones qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1972 and spent eighteen months in practice before joining the University of Bristol Veterinary School. In 1999 he was appointed to a chair in Feline Medicine at the University and is head of the Feline Centre.

Most of his career has been devoted to feline medicine. He has had many interests in feline medicine, including infectious disease, gastrointestinal disorders and endocrine disorders. Recent particular interests include shelter medicine and feline epidemiology.

He was awarded his PhD in 1982, is a diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Companion Animals) and is an RCVS registered specialist in feline medicine. He has been Chairman of the FAB and was a founder member of ESFM.

My list of 10 selected publications

Unexplained outbreaks of a novel acute haemorrhagic vomiting syndrome in cats; Radford A. D.; Jones P. H.; Gruffydd-Jones Tim;Heistand K.;Reilly C. VETERINARY RECORD Volume: 169 Issue: 5 1136 2011.
Immunohistochemical Characterization of Oral Mucosal Lesions in Cats with Chronic Gingivostomatitis; Harley R.; Gruffydd-Jones T. J.; Day M. J. JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY Volume: 144 Issue: 4 Pages: 239-250 2011.
Detection of feline haemoplasma species in experimental infections by in-situ hybridisation; Peters I. R.; Helps C. R.; Willi Barbara; Hoffmann-Lehmann R.;Gruffydd-Jones T.J.;Day M.J.;Tasker S. MICROBIAL PATHOGENESIS Volume: 50 Issue: 2 Pages: 94-99 2011.
Investigation of human haemotropic Mycoplasma infections using a novel generic haemoplasma qPCR assay on blood samples and blood smears; Tasker S.; Peters I. R.; Mumford A., D.; Day M.J.;Gruffydd-JonesT.J.;Day S.;Pretorius A.M.;Birtles R.J.;Helps C.R.;Neimark.K. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY Volume: 59 Issue: 11 Pages: 1285-1292 2010.
Antigen Specificity of the Humoral Immune Response to Mycoplasma haemofelis Infection; Peters I., R.; Helps C. R.; Gruffydd-Jones Timothy J.; Day M.J.;Tasker S. CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY Volume: 17 Issue: 8 Pages: 1238-1243 2010.
Measurement of IL-12 (p40, p35), IL-23p19 and IFN-gamma mRNA in duodenal biopsies of cats with IBD and healthy controls using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qrtPCR); Waly N. E.; Biourge V.; Peters I. R.; Day M.J.; Stokes C.R.; Bailey M.; Gruffydd-Jones T.J. JOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Pages: 725-726 2010.
Number and ownership profiles of cats and dogs in the UK; Murray J. K.; Browne W. J.; Roberts M. A.; Whitmarsh A.; Gruffydd-Jones T.J. VETERINARY RECORD Volume: 166 Issue: 6 Pages: 163-168 2010.
Distribution of Mycoplasma haemofelis in blood and tissues following experimental infection; Tasker S.; Peters I. R.; Day M.J.; Willi B.; Hoffmann-Lehmann R.; Gruffydd-Jones T.J.’ Helps C.R. MICROBIAL PATHOGENESIS Volume: 47 Issue: 6 Pages: 334-340 2009.
Evaluation of the repeatability of ultrasound scanning for detection of feline polycystic kidney disease; Wills S. J.; Barrett E. L.; Barr F.J.; Bradley K.; Helps C.R.; Cannon M.J.; Gruffydd-Jones T.J. JOURNAL OF FELINE MEDICINE AND SURGERY Volume: 11 Issue: 12 Pages: 993-996 2009.
Description of outcomes of experimental infection with feline haemoplasmas: Copy numbers, haematology, Coombs’ testing and blood glucose concentrations; Tasker S.; Peters I. R.; Papasouliotis K.; Cue S.M.; Willi B.; Hoffmann-Lehmann R.; Gruffydd-Jones T.J.; Knowles T.G.; Day M.J.; Helps C.R. VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY Volume: 139 Issue: 3-4 Pages: 323-332 2009.

Albert Lloret

Board Member

Albert Lloret graduated from the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona in 1990.
Small animal general practitioner 1990 to 1997.

From 1997 staff clinician and clinical instructor in internal medicine at the Internal Medicine Service at the Fundació Hospital Clínic Veterinari (FHCV-UAB).

Membership of ANZCVS (Australian New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists) Feline Medicine by examination since 2016;

Accreditation on feline medicine by AVEPA (Spanish small animal veterinary association);

Founding member and chair of the Spanish Feline Medicine Study Group (GEMFE-AVEPA) from 2005 to 2009, permanent member of GEMFE scientific committee;

Member of the ISFM (International Society of Feline Medicine);

Member of the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD);

Associate Editor of the AVEPA journal (Clínica Veterinaria de Pequeños Animales);

Author or coauthor of papers in national and international journals and invited lecturer in feline internal medicine topics at national and international CPDs and congresses.

Specific areas of interest are infectious, geriatrics and oncologic diseases mainly in cats, but also in dogs.

My list of 10 selected publications:

Fernandez-Gallego A, Feo Bernabe L, Dalmau A, Esteban-Saltiveri D, Font A, Leiva M, Ortuñez-Navarro A, Peña MT, Tabar MD, Real-Sampietro L, Saló F, Lloret A, Bardagí M. Feline leishmaniosis: diagnosis, treatment and outcome in 16 cats. J Feline Med Surg. 2020 Feb 13:1098612X20902865.
Studer N, Lutz H, Saegerman C, Gönczi E, Meli ML, Boo G, Hartmann K, Hosie MJ, Moestl K, Tasker S, Belák S, Lloret A, Boucraut-Baralon C, Egberink HF, Pennisi MG, Truyen U, Frymus T, Thiry E, Marsilio F, Addie D, Hochleithner M, Tkalec F, Vizi Z, Brunetti A, Georgiev B, Ludwig-Begall LF, Tschuor F, Mooney CT, Eliasson C, Orro J, Johansen H, Juuti K, Krampl I, Kovalenko K, Šengaut J, Sobral C, Borska P, Kovaříková S, Hofmann-Lehmann R. Pan-European Study on the Prevalence of the Feline Leukaemia Virus Infection – Reported by the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD Europe). Viruses. 2019 Oct 29;11(11):993. doi: 10.3390/v11110993
Mallol C, Espada Y, Lloret A, Altuzarra R, Anselmi C, Novellas R. Dystrophic mineralisation in chronic exogenous lipid pneumonia in cats. JFMS Open Rep. 2019 May 20;5(1):205511691985025
Fernandez M, Manzanilla EG, Lloret A, León M, Thibault JC. Prevalence of feline herpesvirus-1, feline calicivirus, Chlamydophila felis and Mycoplasma felis DNA and associated risk factors in cats in Spain with upper respiratory tract disease, conjunctivitis and/or gingivostomatitis. J Feline Med Surg. 2017 Apr;19(4):461-469
Daminet S, Kooistra HS, Fracassi F, Graham PA, Hibbert A, Lloret A, Mooney CT, Neiger R, Rosenberg D, Syme HM, Villard I, Williams G. Best practice for the pharmacological management of hyperthyroid cats with antithyroid drugs. J Small Anim Pract. 2014 Jan;55(1):4-13
Hofmann-Lehmann R, Wagmann N, Meli ML, Riond B, Novacco M, Joekel D, Gentilini F, Marsilio F, Pennisi MG, Lloret A, Carrapiço T, Boretti FS. Detection of ‘Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis’ and other Anaplasmataceae and Rickettsiaceae in Canidae in Switzerland and Mediterranean countries. Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd. 2016 Oct;158(10):691-700
Vila A, Movilla R, Lloret A, Majó N, Marco AJ, et al. (2016) Chronic Small Bowel Diarrhea Due to Granulomatous Duodenitis by Leishmania in two Dogs. J Vet Med Res 3(1): 1040.
Castro López J, Lloret A, Ravera I, Nadal A, Ferrer L, Bardagí M. Pyogranulomatous mural folliculitis in a cat treated with methimazole. J Feline Med Surg. 2014 Jun;16(6):527-31
Castro-López J, Planellas M, Roura X, Lloret A. Feline chronic gingivostomatitis: a retrospective study of 27 cases. Clin Vet Pequeños Animales. (in Spanish) 2011 31(3): 151-158
Leiva M, Lloret A, Peña T, Roura X. Therapy of ocular and visceral leishmaniasis in a cat. Vet Ophthalmol. 2005 8(1):71-5.

Hans Lutz

Board Member

Hans Lutz qualified from the veterinary faculty of Zurich (Switzerland) in 1971. After several years of bacteriology and mastitis research, clinical work (Clinic of Gynaecology, University of Zurich) and a postgraduate course in Experimental Biology and Medicine, (University of Zurich) Dr Lutz worked two years at the Institute of Pharmacology and Biochemistry (Univ. Zurich) before spending three years studying virology and immunology at the University of California Davis with Prof. Niels C.Pedersen.
Dr. Lutz has been full professor in clinical laboratory medicine and he was director of the clinical laboratory at the Veterinary Faculty in Zurich, from 1981 until his retirement in 2011. He served as President of the Swiss National Centre for Retroviruses (AIDS reference laboratory of Switzerland) from 1995 til 2008. He holds a degree in laboratory and basic research of the Swiss Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (FVH) and obtained the specialist diploma for laboratory medical analysis (Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences).
His research interests include Feline viral and especially retroviral infections, Animal Models for AIDS, Feline immunology and vaccinology, tick-borne infections and clinical laboratory diagnostics in veterinary medicine.
He authored and coauthored over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals, has published several book chapters and reviews and is frequently invited as guest lecturer or speaker.
Member of the cat specialist group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Hans Lutz is a founding member of the EU concerted action on FIV Vaccination. Member of the scientific advisory board to the Veterinary University in Vienna. Hans Lutz is co-editor of the textbook “Diseases of the cat” (Enke Verlag). He obtained several awards among them the science award of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association in 2001. He is also member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

My list of 10 selected publications

Cattori V., Weibel B., Lutz H. Inhibition of Feline leukemia virus replication by the integrase inhibitor Raltegravir Veterinary Microbiology (2011), 152, 165-168.
Gomes Keller A., Goenczi E., Tandon R., Riondato F., Hofmann-Lehmann R., Meli M., Lutz H. Detection of feline leukemia virus RNA in saliva from naturally infected cats and correlation of PCR results with those of current diagnostic methods. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 44, 916-922 (2006).
Hofmann-Lehmann R., Tandon R., Boretti F., Meli M., Willi B., Cattori V., Gomes Keller MA., Ossent P., Golder M., Flynn N., Lutz H. Reassessment of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) vaccines with novel sensitive molecular assays. Vaccine 24, 1087-1094 (2006).
Leutenegger C., Boretti F., Mislin C., Flynn J., Schroff M., Habel A., Junghans C., Koenig-Merediz S., Sigrist B., Aubert A., Pedersen N., Wittig B., Lutz H. Immunization of cats against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection by using minimalistic immunogenic defined gene expression vector vaccines expressing FIV gp140 alone or with feline interleukin-12 (IL-12), IL-16, or a CpG motif. Journal of Virology 74, 10447-10457 (2000).
Gut M., Leutenegger C., Huder J., Pedersen N., Lutz H. One-tube fluorogenic reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the quantitation of feline coronavirus. Journal of Virological Methods 77, 37-46 (1999).
Holznagel E., Hofmann-Lehmann R., Leutenegger C., Allenspach K., Hüttner S., Forster U., Niederer E., Joller H., Willett B.J., Hummel U., Rossi G.L., Schüpbach J., Lutz H. The role of in vitro-induced lymphocyte apoptosis in feline immunodeficiency virus infection: Correlation with different markers of disease progression. Journal of Virology, 72, 9025-9033 (1998).
Fehr D., Holznagel E., Bolla S., Hauser B., Herrewegh A.A.P.M. Horzinek M., Lutz H. Placebo-controlled evaluation of a modified life virus vaccine against feline infectious peritonitis: safety and efficacy under field conditions. Vaccine 15, 1101-1109 (1997).
Roelke-Parker M.E., Munson L., Packer C., Kock R., Cleaveland S., Carpenter M., O’Brien J., Pospischil A., Hofmann-Lehmann R., Lutz H., Mwamengele G.L.M., Mgasa M.N., Machange G.A., Summers B.A., Appel M.J.G. A canine distemper virus epidemic in Serengeti lions (Panthera leo). Nature 379, 441-445 (1996).
Lutz H., Pedersen N.C., Theilen G.H. Course of feline leukemia virus infection and its detection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and monoclonal antibodies. Am. J. Vet. Res. 44, 2054-2059 (1983).
Lutz H., Pedersen N.C., Higgins J., Hübscher U., Troy F.A., Theilen G.H. Humoral immune reactivity to feline leukemia virus and associated antigens in cats naturally infected with feline leukemia virus. Cancer Res. 40, 3642-3651 (1980).

Fulvio Marsilio

Board Member

Fulvio Marsilio was born in Bari on 20 december 1960. He graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Bari (Italy) in 1985 and obtained a degree in “Prophylaxis in infectious diseases of animals” from the School for the Scientific Research at Brescia in 1986, while working at the Virology and Molecular Biology Laboratories of the Istituto Zooprofilattico of Brescia. He obtained a PhD in Veterinary Parasitology from the University of Bari in 1989. From 1990 to 1994 he worked at the Institute of Infectious Diseases of Animals of the Bari Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and since 1994 he is researcher in infectious animal diseases at the Termano Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. In November 1996, he attended the Institut für Virologie der Tierärztlichen Hochschule of Hannover (Germany), where he worked on the biomolecular typing of canine distemper virus strains. Currently, he is full professor in infectious diseases of animals and teaches infectious animal diseases (including infectious diseases in companion animals and livestock) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Teramo. From december 2005 to march 2013 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Teramo and from 2009 to 2013 Vice-Rector of the University of Teramo. His research areas are the etiology, the pathogenesis, the diagnosis and prophylaxis of the infectious diseases of the dog, cat and small ruminants.

To date he is (November 2021):

– Member of the Regional Board for Zooprophylaxis and of the Crisis Unity for Avian flu at the Veterinary Services of the Abruzzo Region;

– Coordinator of the post-graduate course on Veterinary Rehabilitation” at the University of Teramo;

– Coordinator of the PhD degree on Veterinary medical sciences, public health and animal well-being;

– Coordinator of the research project “Demetra” (MIUR, Dipartimenti di Eccellenza, 2018-2022) at the University of Teramo;

– Director of the post-graduate school in Animal Health, Farming and Production at the University of Teramo;

– Member of the Veterinary Drugs Committe at the Italian Ministry of Health.

My list of last 10 selected publications

Di Martino B, Di Profio F, Robetto S, Fruci P, Sarchese V, Palombieri A, Melegari I, Orusa R, Martella V, Marsilio F. Molecular Survey on Kobuviruses in Domestic and Wild Ungulates From Northwestern Italian Alps. Front Vet Sci. 2021, 8:679337. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.679337. eCollection 2021.
Ludwig-Begall LF, Di Felice E, Toffoli B, Ceci C, Di Martino B, Marsilio F, Mauroy A, Thiry E. Analysis of Synchronous and Asynchronous In Vitro Infections with Homologous Murine Norovirus Strains Reveals Time-Dependent Viral Interference Effects. 2021, 13(5):823. doi: 10.3390/v13050823.
Capozza P, Martella V, Lanave G, Beikpour F, Di Profio F, Palombieri A, Sarchese V, Marsilio F, La Rosa G, Suffredini E, Camero M, Buonavoglia C, Di Martino B. A surveillance study of hepatitis E virus infection in household cats. Res Vet Sci. 2021, 137:40-43. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.04.022.
Di Francesco CE, Smoglica C, Profeta F, Farooq M, Di Giannatale E, Toscani T, Marsilio F. Research Note: Detection of antibiotic-resistance genes in commercial poultry and turkey flocks from Italy. Poult Sci. 2021, 100(5):101084. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.101084.
Palombieri A, Robetto S, Di Profio F, Sarchese V, Fruci P, Bona MC, Ru G, Orusa R, Marsilio F, Martella V, Di Martino B. Surveillance Study of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) in Domestic and Wild Ruminants in Northwestern Italy. Animals (Basel). 2020, 10(12):2351. doi: 10.3390/ani10122351.
Palombieri A, Di Profio F, Lanave G, Capozza P, Marsilio F, Martella V, Di Martino B. Molecular detection and characterization of Carnivore chaphamaparvovirus 1 in dogs. Vet Microbiol. 2020, 251:108878. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2020.108878.
Smoglica C, Di Francesco CE, Angelucci S, Antonucci A, Innocenti M, Marsilio F. Occurrence of the tetracycline resistance gene tetA(P) in Apennine wolves (Canis lupus italicus) from different human-wildlife interfaces. J Glob Antimicrob Resist. 2020, 23:184-185. doi: 10.1016/j.jgar.2020.09.011.
Day MJ, Carey S, Clercx C, Kohn B, Marsilio F, Thiry E, Freyburger L, Schulz B, Walker DJ.J. Aetiology of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex and Prevalence of its Pathogens in Europe. Comp Pathol. 2020, 176:86-108. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2020.02.005.
Di Martino B, Lanave G, Di Profio F, Melegari I, Marsilio F, Camero M, Catella C, Capozza P, Bányai K, Barrs VR, Buonavoglia C, Martella V. Identification of feline calicivirus in cats with enteritis. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2020, 67(6):2579-2588. doi: 10.1111/tbed.13605.
Di Martino B, Di Profio F, Melegari I, Marsilio F. Feline Virome-A Review of Novel Enteric Viruses Detected in Cats. Viruses. 2019, 11(10):908. doi: 10.3390/v11100908.

Katrin Hartmann

Board Member

Katrin Hartmann qualified as a veterinarian from the College of Veterinary Medicine of the LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet) Munich in Germany in 1987. She obtained her Dr. med. vet. in Small Animal Internal Medicine in 1990. From 1988 to 1996, she was Scientific Assistant and Clinical Instructor at the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine of the LMU Munich. She obtained her habilitation (German PhD) in Small Animal Internal Medicine in 1995, and from 1996 to 2001 worked as Assistant Professor (Privatdozentin) at the same clinic. She became Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine – Companion Animals in 1999 and holds the German title of Fachtieraerztin (specialised veterinarian) in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Pathology. From 2001 to 2003, she worked as Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the Small Animal Department at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia Athens in USA. In 2003, she returned to Munich where she still works today as a Full Professor and Chair of the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine at the LMU Munich. In 2009, she additionally was appointed the First Department Head of the newly founded Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine at the LMU Munich and since then acts as either Department Head or Vice Department Head in changing turns.

Her main research interests are in small animal clinical infectiology with a focus on feline virus infections (particularly feline infectious peritonitis and feline retrovirus infections), antiviral chemotherapy, leptospirosis, as well as vaccination and herd immunity.

She is author of > 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals as well as many book chapters.

My list of 10 selected publications

Krentz D, Zenger K, Alberer M, Felten S, Bergmann M, Dorsch R, Matiasek K, Kolberg L, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli ML, Spiri AM, Horak J, Weber S, Holicki CM, Groschup MH, Zablotski Y, Lescrinier E, Koletzko B, von Both U, Hartmann K. The end of a previously deadly coronavirus-associated disease? Curing cats with feline infectious peritonitis with the oral multi-component drug Xraphconn^®. Viruses 2021; 13: 2228.
Korath ADJ, Janda J, Untersmayr E, Sokolowska M, Feleszko W, Agache I, Seida AA, Hartmann K, Jensen-Jarolim E, Pali-Schöll I. One Health: EAACI Position Paper on coronaviruses at the human-animal interface, with a specific focus on comparative and zoonotic aspects of SARS-CoV-2. Allergy 2021 (online ahead of print).
Klaus J, Zini E, Hartmann K, Egberink H, Kipar A, Bergmann M, Palizzotto C, Zhao S, Rossi F, Franco V, Porporato F, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Meli ML. SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs and cats from Southern Germany and Northern Italy during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Viruses 2021; 13:1453.
Felten S, Matiasek K, Leutenegger CM, Sangl L, Herre S, Dörfelt S, Fischer A, Hartmann K. Diagnostic value of detecting feline coronavirus RNA and spike gene mutations in cerebrospinal fluid to confirm feline infectious peritonitis. Viruses 2021; 13: 186.
Dorsch R, Ojeda J, Salgado M, Monti G, Collado B, Tomckowiack C, Tejeda C, Müller A, Eberhard T, Klaasen HLBM, Hartmann K. Cats shedding pathogenic Leptospira spp. – an underestimated zoonotic risk? PLoSOne 2020; 15: e0239991.
Felten S, Klein-Richers U, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Bergmann M, Unterer S, Leutenegger CM, Hartmann K. Correlation of feline coronavirus shedding in feces with coronavirus antibody titer. Pathogens 2020; 9, 598.
Hartmann K, Hofmann-Lehmann R. What’s new in feline leukemia virus infection. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 2020; 50: 1013-36.
Little S, Levy J, Hartmann K, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Hosie M, Olah G, Denis KS. 2020 AAFP Feline Retrovirus Testing and Management Guidelines. J Feline Med Surg 2020; 22: 5-30.
Bergmann M, Schwertler S, Speck S, Truyen U, Reese S, Hartmann K. Faecal shedding of parvovirus deoxyribonucleic acid following modified live feline panleucopenia virus vaccination in healthy cats. Vet Rec 2019; 185: 83.
Bergmann M, Speck S, Rieger A, Truyen U, Hartmann K. Antibody response to feline calicivirus vaccination in healthy adult cats. Viruses 2019; 11: e702.

Regina Hofmann-Lehmann

Board Member

Regina Hofmann-Lehmann is professor for Laboratory Medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Vetsuisse Faculty), University of Zurich. She was studying retrovirus infections at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston from 1998 to 2001. In 2004 she received as the only veterinarian so far, a professorship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). From 2010 to 2021 she served as President of the Swiss Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

Her main research interests are in clinical infectiology with a focus on retroviruses, coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2 and other infections particularly in domestic and wild felids. She is the author of >300 publications in peer-reviewed journals in this field. She has received funding by the SNSF since 1998 and her research involves collaborations with many institutions worldwide.

Since 2011 she is Head of the Clinical Laboratory (www.vetlabor.ch). The multivalent laboratory receives samples from farm, companion and exotic animals particularly from the University Teaching Hospital but also from zoos and private clinics. It is the only laboratory in Switzerland accredited by the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ECVCP) and provides special expertise in cytology, flow cytometry and serological and molecular analyses of infectious diseases.

Since 2011 she is also Head of the Center for Clinical Studies (www.zks.uzh.ch), a core facility dedicated to support the laboratory-based clinical research. The center has more than 120 users from 31 research groups.

In 2017 she was elected head of the Department of Clinical Diagnostics and Services and with that became member of the executive board of the University Animal Hospital at the University of Zurich.

My list of ten selected publications

Willi B, ML Meli, C Cafarelli, UO Gilli, A Kipar, A Hubbuch, B Riond, J Howard, D Schaarschmidt, W Regli, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2022. Cytauxzoon europaeus infections in domestic cats in Switzerland and in European wildcats in France: a tale that started more than two decades ago. Parasites & Vectors 15:19. DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-05111-8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34998440
Jähne S, S Felten, M Bergmann, K Erber, K Matiasek, ML Meli, R Hofmann-Lehmann, K Hartmann. 2022. Detection of feline coronavirus variants in cats without feline infectious peritonitis. Viruses 14, 1671. DOI: 10.3390/v14081671. PMID: 36016293. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9412601/
Krentz D, K Zenger, M Alberer, S Felten, M Bergmann, R Dorsch, K Matiasek, L Kolberg, R Hofmann-Lehmann, ML Meli, AM Spiri, J Horak, S Weber, CM Holicki, MH Groschup, Y Zablotski, E Lescrinier, B Koletzko, U von Both, K Hartmann. 2021. Curing Cats with Feline Infectious Peritonitis with an Oral Multi-Component Drug Containing GS-441524. Viruses 13, 2228. DOI: 10.3390/v13112228. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34835034
Klaus J, ML Meli, B Willi, S Nadeau, C Beisel, T Stadler, ETH SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Team, H Egberink, S Zhao, H Lutz, B Riond, N Rösinger, H Stalder, S Renzullo, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2021. Detection and genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in a domestic cat with respiratory signs in Switzerland. Viruses 13. 496. Doi:10.3390/v13030496. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33802899
Spiri AM, B Riond, M Stirn, M Novacco, ML Meli, FS Boretti, I Herbert, MJ Hosie, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2021. Modified-live FCV vaccination reduces viral RNA loads, duration of RNAemia, and the severity of clinical signs after heterologous FCV challenge. Viruses 13, 1505. Doi:10.3390/v13081505. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34452370
Hofmann-Lehmann R, K Hartmann. 2020. Feline leukaemia virus infection – A practical approach to diagnosis. J Feline Med Surg 22:831-846. Doi: 10.1177/1098612X20941785. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32845225
Novacco M, S Sugiarto, B Willi, J Baumann, AM Spiri, A Oestmann, B Riond, FS Boretti, H Naegeli, R Hofmann-Lehmann. 2018. Consecutive antibiotic treatment with doxycycline and marbofloxacin clears bacteremia in Mycoplasma haemofelis-infected cats. Vet Microbiol 217:112-120. Doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2018.03.006. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29615243
Willi B, Spiri AM, Melia ML, Samman A, Hoffmann K, Sydler T, Cattoria V, Graf F, Diserens KA, Padrutt I, Nesina S, Berger A, Ruetten M, Riond B, Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R. 2016. Molecular characterization and virus neutralization patterns of severe, non-epizootic forms of feline calicivirus infections resembling virulent systemic disease in cats in Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. Vet Microbiol 182:202-12. Doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.10.015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26711049
Nesina S, Helfer-Hungerbuehler K, Riond B, Boretti FS, Willi B, Marina M, Grest P, Hofmann-Lehmann R. 2015. Retroviral DNA—the silent winner: blood transfusion containing latent feline leukemia provirus causes infection and disease in naïve recipient cats. Retrovirology 12:105. doi: 10.1186/s12977-015-0231-z. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26689419
Helfer-Hungerbuehler AK, AM Spiri, B Riond, P Grest, FS Boretti, Regina Hofmann-Lehmann. 2015. No benefit of therapeutic vaccination in clinically healthy cats persistently infected with feline leukemia virus. Vaccine. 33:1578-85. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.02.009. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25698488

Tadeusz Frymus

Board Member

Tadeusz Frymus qualified from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW (Poland), in 1974. Then he started working on infectious diseases of small and large animals at the same faculty as a clinician, lecturer and researcher.

In 1980, he obtained a PhD on the immunological response of foals vaccinated against equine herpesvirus type 1.

From 1984 to 1986, he was an Alexander-von-Humboldt fellow at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (Germany), where he studied the pathogenesis and immunology of porcine atrophic rhinitis. It was the subject of his habilitation completed in 1989. Other subjects of scientific interest included immunology (bovine leucosis, trichinellosis, ascaridiosis, development of the immunological response in foals, immunological defects, role of leucocytes in porcine lung and mammary secretions), and atrophic rhinitis in other species than the pig.

Since the early 1990s his main scientific interests covered viral diseases of cats (leukemia, immunodeficiency virus infection, infectious peritonitis, rabies) and dogs (distemper).

From 1990 to 1996, he was vice-dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Warsaw. From 1996 to 1999 he was the head of the Clinic of Infectious Diseases and from 1997 to 1999 also of the Department of Infectious Diseases. Then many years as a full professor he was the head of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Small Animal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW. He established 1995 at this faculty a postgraduate study “Diseases of dogs and cats” for practitioners and managed it till 2020. He has authored several books in Polish about feline and canine infectious diseases, and was a co-author of “Canine Infectious Diseases: Self-assessment Color Review” (CRC Press, 2018). He taught in many postgraduate courses and workshops for veterinarians in Poland and abroad.

My list of 10 selected publications

Łobaczewski A, Czopowicz M, Moroz A, Mickiewicz M, Sapierzyński R, Tarka S, Frymus T, Mądry W, Buczyński M, Szaluś-Jordanow O. Integrated Basic Heart and Lung Ultrasound Examination for the Differentiation between Bacterial Pneumonia and Lung Neoplasm in Dogs – A New Diagnostic Algorithm. Animals (Basel) 2022 doi: 10.3390/ani12091154.

Łobaczewski A, Czopowicz M, Moroz A, Mickiewicz M, Kosiec-Tworus A, Frymus T, Szaluś-Jordanow O. Integrated basic lung and heart ultrasound with X-ray (TUSX) for the diagnosis of asthma, chronic bronchitis and laryngeal paralysis, and treatment with inhaled fluticasone using home-made mask in dogs and cats. Pol J Vet Sci. 2022 doi: 10.24425/pjvs.2022.141819.

Materniak-Kornas M., Frymus T., Löchelt M., Kuźmak J. Seroprevalence of feline foamy virus in domestic cats in Poland. J Vet Res 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/jvetres-2021-0059.

Szaluś-Jordanow, O.; Stabinska-Smolarz, M.; Czopowicz, M.; Moroz, A.; Mickiewicz, M.; Łobaczewski, A.; Chrobak-Chmiel, D.; Kizerwetter-Świda, M.; Rzewuska, M.; Sapierzyński, R.; Grzegorczyk M.; Świerk A,; Frymus. Focused Cardiac Ultrasound Examination as a Tool for Diagnosis of Infective Endocarditis and Myocarditis in Dogs and Cats. Animals 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113162.

Frymus T. Expert opinion on the question, whether the growing distribution of wolves could play a role for the danger of rabies in Europe. Wiener Tierarztl Mschr 2016, 103, 43-44.

Szaluś-Jordanow O, Augustynowicz-Kopeć E, Czopowicz M, Olkowski A, Łobaczewski A, Rzewuska M, Sapierzyński R, Wiatr E, Garncarz M, Frymus T. Intracardiac tuberculomas caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a dog. BMC Vet Res. 2016, doi: 10.1186/s12917-016-0731-7.

Czopowicz M, Szaluś-Jordanow O, Frymus T. Zolpidem poisoning in a cat. Aust Vet J. 2010, doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2010.00595.x

Czopowicz M, Szaluś-Jordanow O, Frymus T. Cerebral toxoplasmosis in a cat. Medycyna Wet. 2010, 66, 784-786.

Kita P, Frymus, T. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infections in the Warsaw area. Medycyna Wet. 2004, 60, 53-56.

Kita P, Frymus, T. Occurrence of feline leukemia virus in Warsaw. Medycyna Wet. 2003, 59, 217-220.

Herman Egberink

Board Member

Herman Egberink studied veterinary medicine at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, the Netherlands where he graduated in 1983. In the same year he joined the Department of Virology, at this same faculty; the first period as research assistant and lecturer, from 1990 onwards as assistant professor and from 1997 as associate professor. His research activities focus on companion animal viruses, more specifically feline viruses. In 1991 he finished his PhD thesis entitled: “FIV infection: an animal model for AIDS” . He has a long track record in the provision, development and the organization of education within the Veterinary faculty. He also thaught in several courses in postgraduate education for veterinarians in the Netherlands and abroad.

His current research interest is in the field of pathogenesis, development of diagnostics, vaccine development and antiviral therapy with a focus on coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, retroviruses and Influenzavirus, particularly in cats and dogs. He is a Royal Dutch Veterinary Association registered specialist in Veterinary Microbiology (Virology).

https://www.uu.nl/staff/HFEgberink

My list of 10 selected publications

Zhao, S., Schuurman, N., Li, W., Wang, C., Smit, L.A.M., Broens, E.M., Wagenaar, J.A., van Kuppeveld, F.J.M., Bosch, B.-J., Egberink, H. 2021. Serologic screening of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in cats and dogs during first coronavirus disease wave, the Netherlands. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 27 (5), pp. 1362-1370.
Leij van der, W.J.R., Broens, E.M., Hesselink, J.W., Schuurman, N., Vernooij, J.C.M., Egberink, H.F. 2021. Serological screening for antibodies against sars-cov-2 in dutch shelter cats. Viruses, 13 (8), 1634.
Zhao, S., Schuurman, N., Tieke, M., Quist, B., Zwinkels, S., Kuppeveld van, F., de Haan, C.A M & Egberink, H. (2020). Serological screening of influenza A virus antibodies in cats and dogs indicates frequent infection with different subtypes. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 58 (11), DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01689-20
Zhao, S., Li, W., Schuurman, N., Van Kuppeveld, F., Bosch, B.-J., Egberink, H. 2019. Serological screening for coronavirus infections in cats. Viruses, 11 (8), art. no. 743.
Duijvestijn, M., Mughini-Gras, L., Schuurman, N., Schijf, W., Wagenaar, J.A., Egberink, H. 2016. Enteropathogen infections in canine puppies: (Co-)occurrence, clinical relevance and risk factors. Veterinary Microbiology, 195, pp. 115-122.
Chang, H-W., Egberink, H.F. and Rottier, P.J.M. 2011. Sequence analysis of feline coronaviruses and the circulating virulent/avirulent theory. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 17, 744-746.
Vogel, L., Lubben, M. van der, Lintelo, E.G. te, Bekker, C.P.J., Geerts, T., Schuijff, L.S., Grinwis, G.C.M., Egberink, H.F., and Rottier, P.J.M. 2010. Pathogenic characteristics of persistent feline enteric coronavirus infection in cats. Vet. Res. 41(5):71.
Chang, H.W., Groot, R.J. de, Egberink, H.F., and Rottier, P.J.M. 2010. Feline infectious peritonitis; insights into feline coronavirus pathobiogenesis and epidemiology based on genetic analysis of the viral 3c gene. J. Gen. Virol. 91:415-420.
Meer, F.J. van der, Haan, C.A. de, Schuurman, N.M., Haijema, B.J., Verheije, M.H., Bosch, B.J., Balzarini, J. & Egberink, H.F. 2007. The carbohydrate-binding plant lectins and the non-peptidic antibiotic pradimicin A target the glycans of the coronavirus envelope glycoproteins. J Antimicrob Chemother. 60(4):741-9.
Meer, F.J. van der, Schuurman, N.M. & Egberink, H.F. 2007. Feline immunodeficiency virus infection is enhanced by feline bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. J. Gen. Virol. 88: 251-8.

Sándor Belák

Board Member

Sándor Belák qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Veterinary Sciences in Budapest (Hungary) in 1969. He worked at the headquarters of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome and at the Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Vaccine and Diagnostic Institute in Ankara (Turkey) before returning to the University of Veterinary Sciences in Budapest, where he obtained his PhD in 1978. In 1979, he worked for a year at the National Animal Disease Centre in Ames (Iowa, USA).
In 1985, he moved to Sweden where he was employed as Professor, research leader, and project coordinator. He was the founder of the Joint Research and Development Division of the Departments of Virology (National Veterinary Institute, SVA) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), acting also as academic lecturer and examiner in virology. He has been the supervisor of 24 PhD students and of a large number of MSc students.
In 1994 he defended his Doctor of Science (DSc) thesis at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was elected as external member of this academy in 2007.
He has published over 310 papers in peer-reviewed journals, of which around 90 deal with feline infectious diseases. He has authored 12 books/book chapters and was Editorial Board member of four international journals. He acts as expert/reviewer in numerous research foundations.
He has earned the Centenary Award of the British Veterinary Association (1989), the George Fleming Literary Prize (2002), the Thuréus prize of the Royal Society of Sciences, Sweden (2004) and the Köves prize of the Hungarian Veterinary Association/Ceva (2011). In 2012 he was decorated with the Gold Medal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, KSLA “for outstanding research work in veterinary virology”. Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden delivered the award at the occasion of the 199th anniversary meeting of the Royal Academy in Stockholm on 28 January 2012 (see https://www.abcdcatsvets.org/prof-sandor-belak-was-awarded-the-gold-medal/).
Prof. Belák has coordinated three EU research consortia and has been partner group leader in additional 20 EU research projects as well as national projects on herpesviruses, coronaviruses, arteriviruses, influenza viruses, pestiviruses, molecular diagnostics, food safety and biosafety.
From 2006 to 2012 he was President of the European Society for Veterinary Virology (ESVV). He was member of the Board of the EC European Platform for Global Animal Health.
He headed the Animal World Health Organization’s (OIE) “Collaborating Centre for the Application of Biotechnology-based Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in Veterinary Medicine “, with the tasks of international standardization, validation, and training. In 2015 he retired from SLU. Subsequently, he is active as expert of international organizations, like the EC and WOAH and as professor emeritus at SLU in Uppsala.
In September 2022 Prof. Sándor Belák was inaugurated as Doctor honoris causa at the Veterinary University in Budapest.

My list of 10 selected publications

Egberink H, Frymus T, Hartmann K, Möstl K, Addie DD, Belák S, Boucraut-Baralon C, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Lloret A, Marsilio F, Pennisi MG, Tasker S, Thiry E, Truyen U, Hosie MJ.: Vaccination and Antibody Testing in Cats. 2022 Jul 22;14(8):1602. doi: 10.3390/v14081602
Bali K, Bálint Á, Farsang A, Marton S, Nagy B, Kaszab E, Belák S, Palya V, Bányai K. Recombination Events Shape the Genomic Evolution of Infectious Bronchitis Virus in Europe. Viruses. 2021 Mar 24;13(4):535. doi: 10.3390/v13040535. PMID: 33804824.
Mészáros I, Olasz F, Kádár-Hürkecz E, Bálint Á, Hornyák Á, Belák S, Zádori Z.: Cellular localisation of the proteins of region 3 of feline enteric coronavirus. Acta Vet Hung. 2018 Sep;66(3):493-508. doi: 10.1556/004.2018.044.
Granberg F, Torresi C, Oggiano A, Malmberg M, Iscaro C, De Mia GM, Belák S.: Complete Genome Sequence of an African Swine Fever Virus Isolate from Sardinia, Italy. Genome Announc. 2016 Nov 17;4(6). pii: e01220-16. doi: 10.1128/genomeA.01220-16.
Khaliq Z, Leijon M, Belák S, Komorowski J: Identification of combinational and singular genomic signatures of host adaptation in influenza H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes. BMC Genomics, 2016 Jul 29;17:529. doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-2919-4
Liu L, Luo Y, Accensi F, Ganges L, Rodríguez F, Shan H, Ståhl K, Qiu HJ, Belák S.: Pre-Clinical Evaluation of a Real-Time PCR Assay on a Portable Instrument as a Possible Field Diagnostic Tool: Experiences from the Testing of Clinical Samples for African and Classical Swine Fever Viruses. Transboundary Emerging Diseases, 2016 Jun 16. doi: 10.1111/tbed.12538
Bálint Á, Farsang A, Zádori Z, Belák S: Comparative in vivo analysis of recombinant type II feline coronaviruses with truncated and completed ORF3 region. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 20;9(2):e88758. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0088758. eCollection 2014.
Bálint Á, Farsang A, Szeredi L, Zádori Z, Belák S: Recombinant feline coronaviruses as vaccine candidates confer protection in SPF but not in conventional cats. Vet Microbiol. 2014 Mar 14;169(3-4):154-62. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2013.10.015. Epub 2013 Oct 29
Belák S, Karlsson OE, Blomström AL, Berg M, Granberg F.: New viruses in veterinary medicine, detected by metagenomic approaches. Vet Microbiol. 2013. 165 (1-2):95-101. Review.
Leijon M, Belák S: Review of a new molecular virus pathotyping method in the context of bioterrorism. Biosecur Bioterror. 2013 Sep; 11 Suppl 1:S241-6. doi: 10.1089/bsp.2012.0087. PMID: 23971812

Diane Addie

Board Member

Diane Addie is a graduate of the University of Glasgow Veterinary School (GUVS). After 8 years in small animal practice, she returned to Glasgow to work on feline coronavirus (FCoV) and felineinfectious peritonitis (FIP) for her PhD. In 2003 she received the Amoroso Award for outstanding contributions to small animal studies by a non-clinical member of university staff. She left her position of Senior Lecturer and Head of Diagnostic Virology at GUVS in 2006 and is presently an Honorary Senior Research Fellow.

She hosts a website dedicated to providing veterinary surgeons with information which is difficult to access otherwise: www.catvirus.com and a You Tube channel.

While interested in all infectious disease of the cat, her major research interests are FIP, feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FGS) and kitten mortality.

She dreams of the eradication of FCoV and FIP, to find a cure for FGS, and to see an end of animal suffering within her lifetime.

My list of 10 selected publications

Addie D.D., Jarrett O. 1992 A study of naturally occurring feline coronavirus infection in kittens. Vet. Rec. 130 133-137.
Addie D.D., Toth S., Murray G.D., Jarrett O. 1995 The risk of feline infectious peritonitis in cats naturally infected with feline coronavirus. Am. J. Vet. Res. 56 4 429-434.
Addie D.D., Toth S., Herrewegh A.A.P.M., Jarrett O. 1996 Feline coronavirus in the intestinal contents of cats with feline infectious peritonitis. Veterinary Record 139 522-523.
Duthie S., Eckersall P.D., Addie D.D., Lawrence C.E., Jarrett O. 1997 Value of alpha 1 acid glycoprotein in the diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis. Veterinary Record 141 12 299-303.
Addie D.D, Dennis J.M, Toth S, Callanan J.J, Reid S, Jarrett O. 2000 Long-term impact on a closed household of pet cats of natural infection with feline coronavirus, feline leukaemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus. Veterinary Record. 146 419-424.
Addie D.D, Schaap I.A.T, Nicolson L, Jarrett O. 2003 Persistence and transmission of natural type I feline coronavirus infection. J. Gen. Virol. 84 (Pt 10), 2735-2744..
Addie D.D, Radford A, Yam P, Taylor D.J. 2003 Cessation of feline calicivirus shedding coincided with resolution of clinical signs in a case of chronic lymphocytic plasmacytic gingivostomatitis. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 44 (4) 172-176.
Cave T.A, Reid S.W.J, Mellor D, Addie D.D. 2004 Risk factors for feline coronavirus seropositivity in UK cats relinquished to a rescue charity. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. 6 2 53-58.
Addie, D.D.. Feline coronavirus. 2012 Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat. 4th edition. Editor: Greene, Craig. Published by W.B. Saunders Elsevier Company, 11830 Westline Industrial Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63146, USA. ISBN 978-1-4160-6130-4 92-108.
Addie DD, McDonald M, Audhuy S, Burr P, Hollins J, Kovacic R, Lutz H, Luxton Z, Mazar S, Meli M. 2012 Quarantine protects Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Cats from Feline Coronavirus Infection. JFMS In press.

Corine Boucraut-Baralon

Treasurer

Corine Boucraut-Baralon graduated in Veterinary Medicine from the National Veterinary School in Toulouse (ENVT), France, in 1985 before undertaking a Masters and a PhD in Virology at the Paul Sabatier University of Sciences in Toulouse, entitled “Identification and study of myxoma virus antigens”.

From 1990 to 2006, Corine Boucraut-Baralon was Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Biology and Genetics in ENVT. For the first ten years, Dr Corine Boucraut-Baralon worked as Head of Virology Unit in the ENVT- INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology.

The focus of her research was to study immunology of poxvirus infection in order to develop new vaccines. Her team developed a bivalent recombinant vaccine against rabbit haemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis using myxoma virus as vector, which was patented in 1998. In 2000, Corine Boucraut-Baralon left her lab to create Scanelis, a molecular diagnostic private company, developing real-time PCR assays for quantification of pathogens, genes and mRNA. In 2000, Scanelis was an award winner of the first French Competition for Innovative projects and received a grant from the Research Ministry to develop real-time PCR veterinary diagnostic tests.

Dr Boucraut-Baralon is currently General Manager and Chief Scientific Officer of Scanelis. Her particular research interests lie in epidemiology and diagnosis of canine and feline infectious diseases, especially Canine distemper, Canine parvovirosis, Feline and Canine coronavirosis, Panleukopenia, and Feline calicivirosis.

Since 2000, Corine Boucraut-Baralon taught in many postgraduate courses and training schemes in France for veterinarians and physicians. The topics of these courses are epidemiology and diagnostic of infectious diseases.

My list of 10 selected publications

Rivière D, Pingret JL, Raymond-Letron I, , Lanore D, Boucraut-Baralon C. Disseminated Mycobacterium avium subsp. infection in a cat. J Feline Med Surg. 2011 Feb;13(2):125-8.
Pingret JL, Rivière D, Lafon S, Etiévant M, Boucraut-Baralon C.Epidemiological survey of H1N1 influenza virus in cats in France. Vet Rec. 2010 Mar 6;166(10):307.
Reynolds BS, Poulet H, Pingret JL, Jas D, Brunet S, Lemeter C, Etievant M, Boucraut-Baralon C. A nosocomial outbreak of feline calicivirus associated virulent systemic disease in France. J Feline Med Surg. 2009 Aug;11(8):633-44.
Criado-Fornelio A, Buling A, Pingret JL, Etievant M, Boucraut-Baralon C, Alongi A, Agnone A, Torina A. Hemoprotozoa of domestic animals in France: prevalence and molecular characterization. Vet Parasitol. 2009 Jan 22;159(1):73-6. Epub 2008 Oct 11.
Pingret JL, Boucraut-Baralon C, Guérin JL. Goose haemorrhagic polyomavirus infection in ducks. Vet Rec. 2008 Feb 2;162(5):164.
Marchandeau S, Bertagnoli S, Peralta B, Boucraut-Baralon C, Letty J, Reitz F. Possible interaction between myxomatosis and calicivirosis related to rabbit haemorrhagic disease affecting the European rabbit. Vet Rec. 2004 Nov 6;155(19):589-92. PubMed PMID: 15573951.
Guerin JL, Gelfi J, Dubois L, Vuillaume A, Boucraut-Baralon C, Pingret JL. A novel polyomavirus (goose hemorrhagic polyomavirus) is the agent of hemorrhagic nephritis enteritis of geese. J Virol. 2000 May;74(10):4523-9.
Gelfi J, Chantal J, Phong TT, Py R, Boucraut-Baralon C. Development of an ELISA for detection of myxoma virus-specific rabbit antibodies: test evaluation for diagnostic applications on vaccinated and wild rabbit sera. J Vet Diagn Invest. 1999 May;11(3):240-5.
Petit F, Bertagnoli S, Gelfi J, Fassy F, Boucraut-Baralon C, Milon A. Characterization of a myxoma virus-encoded serpin-like protein with activity against interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme. J Virol. 1996 Sep;70(9):5860-6.
Bertagnoli S, Gelfi J, Petit F, Vautherot JF, Rasschaert D, Laurent S, Le Gall G, Boilletot E, Chantal J, Boucraut-Baralon C. Protection of rabbits against rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease with a vaccinia-RHDV recombinant virus.Vaccine. 1996 Apr;14(6):506-10.

Margaret Hosie

President

Margaret Hosie is Professor of Comparative Virology at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

https://www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/staff/margarethosie/

A veterinarian, she completed her Ph.D. studies on feline immunodeficiency virus in 1991 and subsequently she has pursued an academic research and teaching career in Glasgow, collaborating with colleagues in Europe, US, Australia and Japan. She conducts research in infectious disease pathogenesis, diagnostics and vaccine development, with a focus on feline viruses. In 2002 she was awarded Recognised Specialist Status in Pathology (Microbiology) by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, in recognition of her contributions to these fields.

Her most significant scientific contributions have included the identification of determinants of virulence amongst feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) isolates, the development of methods to confirm FIV and feline leukaemia virus infections in diagnostic samples, the identification of vaccine-induced enhancement of FIV infection and elucidation of the mechanism of protection induced by whole inactivated FIV vaccines. She has also identified immunological correlates of feline retroviral infection, discovered the primary and co-receptor molecules for FIV infection, and more recently identified the first case of human-to-cat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK. Over the years, her research findings have had implications for improving feline welfare as well as having wider, comparative significance.

Prof Hosie has served as a member of the Editorial Boards of Virus Genes and BMC Veterinary Research and is currently a member of the UK Veterinary Vaccinology Network and the British Veterinary Association Policy Group. She is the INSPIRE lead for the School of Veterinary Medicine and actively encourages veterinary undergraduates to engage with research activities. She is also a member of the panel that is responsible for updating the AAFP: Feline Retrovirus Management Guidelines. She has been a member of the European Advisory Board for Cat Diseases (ABCD) since 2005 and was elected as President of the newly established Association, ABCD Europe, in 2019.

My list of 10 selected publications:

Hu S, Logan N, Puenpa J, Wanlapakorn N, Vongpunsawad S, Poovorawan Y, Willett BJ, Hosie MJ. Evaluation of the effect of maternally derived antibody on response to MMR vaccine in Thai infants. Vaccine. 2022 Mar 1;40(10):1439-1447. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.049. Epub 2022 Feb
Frymus T, Belák S, Egberink H, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Marsilio F, Addie DD, Boucraut-Baralon C, Hartmann K, Lloret A, Lutz H, Pennisi MG, Thiry E, Truyen U, Tasker S, Möstl K, Hosie MJ. Influenza Virus Infections in Cats. 2021 Jul 23;13(8):1435. doi: 10.3390/v13081435.PMID: 34452300
Hosie MJ, Epifano I, Herder V, Orton RJ, Stevenson A, Johnson N, MacDonald E, Dunbar D, McDonald M, Howie F, Tennant B, Herrity D, Da Silva Filipe A, Streicker DG; COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, Willett BJ, Murcia PR, Jarrett RF, Robertson DL, Weir W. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory samples from cats in the UK associated with human-to-cat transmission. Vet Rec. 2021 Apr;188(8):e247. doi: 10.1002/vetr.247. Epub 2021 Apr 22. PMID: 33890314
Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Hartmann K, Egberink H, Truyen U, Addie DD, Belák S, Boucraut-Baralon C, Frymus T, Lloret A, Lutz H, Marsilio F, Pennisi MG, Tasker S, Thiry E, Möstl K. Anthropogenic infection of cats during the 202COVID-19 pandemic. Viruses. 2021 Jan 26;13(2):185. doi: 10.3390/v13020185. PMID: 33530620
Hosie MJ and Jasim S. The case for adopting a combined comparative medicine and One Health approach to tackle emerging diseases. Research Comment, The Veterinary Record doi: 10.1136/vr.m2686
Gilbert M, Sulikhan N, Uphyrkina O, Goncharuk M, Kerley L, Castro EH, Reeve R, Seimon T, McAloose D, Seryodkin IV, Naidenko SV, Davis CA, Wilkie GS, Vattipally SB, Adamson WE, Hinds C, Thomson EC, Willett BJ, Hosie MJ, Logan N, McDonald M, Ossiboff RJ, Shevtsova EI, Belyakin S, Yurlova AA, Osofsky SA, Miquelle DG, Matthews L, Cleaveland S. Distemper, extinction, and vaccination of the Amur tiger. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Dec 15;117(50):31954-31962. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2000153117. Epub 2020 Nov 23.PMID: 33229566
Noad RJ, Simpson K, Fooks AR, Hewson R, Gilbert SC, Stevens MP, Hosie MJ, Prior J, Kinsey AM, Entrican G, Simpson A, Whitty CJM, Carroll MW. UK vaccines network: Mapping priority pathogens of epidemic potential and vaccine pipeline developments. Vaccine. 2019 Oct 8;37(43):6241-6247. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.09.009. Epub 2019 Sep 12. PMID: 31522809; PMCID: PMC7127063.
Abdullah N, Kelly JT, Graham SC, Birch J, Gonçalves-Carneiro D, Mitchell T, Thompson RN, Lythgoe KA, Logan N, Hosie MJ, Bavro VN, Willett BJ, Heaton MP, Bailey D. Structure-Guided Identification of a Nonhuman Morbillivirus with Zoonotic Potential. J Virol. 2018 Nov 12;92(23):e01248-18. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01248-18. PMID: 30232185; PMCID: PMC6232486.
Hosie MJ, Techakriengkrai N, Bęczkowski PM, Harris M, Logan N, Willett BJ. The Comparative Value of Feline Virology Research: Can Findings from the Feline Lentiviral Vaccine Be Translated to Humans? Vet Sci. 2017 Jan 28;4(1):7. doi: 10.3390/vetsci4010007. PMID: 29056666; PMCID: PMC5606627.
Logan N, Dundon WG, Diallo A, Baron MD, James Nyarobi M, Cleaveland S, Keyyu J, Fyumagwa R, Hosie MJ, Willett BJ. Enhanced immunosurveillance for animal morbilliviruses using vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudotypes. Vaccine. 2016 Nov 11;34(47):5736-5743. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.10.010. Epub 2016 Oct 11. PMID: 27742221; PMCID: PMC5084683.

Karin Möstl

Vice President

Karin Möstl qualified from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (Austria) in 1977 and obtained her DVM in 1978. In the same year she became assistant lecturer at the Institute of Virology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, where she obtained her habilitation in Virology in 1991 (“Pathogenesis, diagnosis and prevention of coronavirus infections”) and was appointed associate professor.
From 1991 to 1996 she was head of the Institute of Virology (in charge) and from 2004 – after reorganisation of the department structure – she had the position of head of the “Clinical Virology” of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. She did some postgraduate studies in Budapest, Gent and Zürich. From 1998 to 2000 she did expert work for the EU about the geographical risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. From 1999 to 2008 she was editor-in-chief of “Wiener Tierärztliche Monatsschrift – Veterinary Medicine Austria” and from September 2008 to September 2010 she was Vice Dean for Study Affairs of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

Karin Möstl retired from the University in 2014. Since then she is again editor-in-chief of “Wiener Tierärztliche Monatsschrift – Veterinary Medicine Austria”, member of the ABCD (2015 – 2019 as president, since 2019 vice-president) and member of the Board of the Austrian Society of Small Animal Veterinarians (VÖK).
Her research interests include virus infections of cats and dogs, especially coronaviruses, as well as pestivirus infections in ruminants. Additionally she has a special interest in teaching Veterinary Virology.

She is married to a Veterinarian and has one daughter.

My list of 10 selected publications

Hosie MJ, Hofmann-Lehmann R, Hartmann K, Egberink H, Truyen U, Addie DD, Belák S, Boucraut-Baralon C, Frymus T, Lloret A, Lutz H, Marsilio F, Pennisi MG, Tasker S, Thiry E, Möstl K (2021): Anthropogenic Infection of Cats during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. Viruses 13, 185. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13020185
Studer N, Lutz H, Saegerman C, Gönczi E, Meli ML, Boo G, Hartmann K, Hosie MJ, Moestl K, et al. (2019): Pan-European study on the prevalence of the Feline Leukaemia Virus Infection – Reported by the European Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD Europe). Viruses 11, 993. Doi: 10.3390/v11110993.
Haselberger A, Tichy A, Möstl K (2016): Erhebungen zum Antikörperstatus gegen felines Panleukopenievirus, felines Herpesvirus-1 und felines Calicivirus bei Katzen in Wien, Niederösterreich und Oberösterreich. Wien. Tierärztl. Mschr. – Vet. Med. Austria 103, 149-161.
Möstl K (2016): Duration of vaccine-induced immunity. Eur J Comp An Pract 26/4, p4-p8.
Firth CL, Möstl K (2015): A survey of feline leukaemia virus antigenaemia among cats in eastern Austria: a retrospective analysis of serum samples routinely tested between 1996 and 2011. J. Feline Med. Surg. OPEN REPORTS 1-7.
Molnar B, Duchamp Ch, Möstl K, Diehl P-A, Betschart B (2014): Comparative survey of canine parvovirus, canine distemper virus and canine enteric coronavirus infection in free-ranging wolves of central Italy and south-eastern France. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 60, 613-624.
Möstl K (2014): Enteric and respiratory canine coronaviruses: importance and prevalence in Austria. Med.Weter. 70, 9, 520-523.
Möstl K, Egberink H, Addie D, Frymus T, Boucraut-Baralon C, Truyen U, Hartmann K, Lutz H, Gruffydd-Jones T, Radford AD, Lloret A, Pennisi MG, Hosie MJ, Marsilio F, Thiry E, Belák S, Horzinek M (2013): Prevention of infectious diseases in cat shelters. ABCD guidelines. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 15 (7), 546-554.
Spiss S, Benetka V, Künzel F, Sommerfeld-Stur I, Walk K, Latif M, Möstl K (2012): Enteric and respiratory coronavirus infections in Austrian dogs: serological and virological investigations of prevalence and clinical importance in respiratory and enteric disease. Wien Tierarztl Monat 99, 67-81.
Weissl K, Benetka V, Schachner E, Tichy A, Latif M, Mayrhofer E, Möstl K (2012): Osteoarthritis in cats and the possible involvement of feline Calicivirus and feline Retroviruses. Wien Tierarztl Monat 99, 123-133.

Maria Grazia Pennisi

Board Member

Alan Radford

Board Member

Marian C. Horzinek

Board Member

Séverine Tasker

Board Member

Etienne Thiry

Board Member

Uwe Truyen

Board Member

Tim Gruffydd-Jones

Board Member

Albert Lloret

Board Member

Hans Lutz

Board Member

Fulvio Marsilio

Board Member

Katrin Hartmann

Board Member

Regina Hofmann-Lehmann

Board Member

Tadeusz Frymus

Board Member

Herman Egberink

Board Member

Sándor Belák

Board Member

Diane Addie

Board Member

Corine Boucraut-Baralon

Treasurer

Margaret Hosie

President

Karin Möstl

Vice President

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