Group Leader, Virology, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi.
Abstracts of Research Papers Presented during the National Symposium of Indian Virological Society at Unit of Plant Virology, Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, October 14–1.
The beginning of this century has witnessed two viral outbreaks - the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in humans, and influenza virus in birds. The SARS virus turned out to be a new virus of the Coronaviridae family and was found to efficiently transmit from one human to another. The avian influenza virus has remained largely restricted to birds in Vietnam, Thailand and neighbouring countries with some transmission to humans who have come in close contact with infected birds. The emergence of both these viruses have the World Health Organization and other public health authorities worried. In this lecture, I will discuss important aspects of the biology of these viruses in an effort to understand why we should be worried out these outbreaks.
