Viroscience News

June 4, 2021

Looking back: Opening Pandemic & Disaster Preparedness Center

The Pandemic & Disaster Preparedness Center was officially opened in Erasmus MC on 21 May 2021. Curious about how the opening went? Watch the video below for an impression of the day.

October 22, 2021

Operation interview: Marion Koopmans

One guest, three secret interviewers. Who has mastered the art of interviewing the most?

October 22, 2021

Marion Koopmans receives prize 'Irispenning' for communication about corona pandemic

On Monday, October 4, 2021, the Irispenning was presented to Marion Koopmans during the Evening of Science & Society by acting Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven.

November 6, 2020

First OHPACT paper

This month the first One Health PACT paper on the West Nile virus finding in the Netherlands was published in Eurosurveillance. A great first example of the multidisciplinary field collaboration of One Health PACT, resulting in a great paper!

October 19, 2020

OHPACT: First West Nile Virus patient in the Netherlands

A male patient has been diagnosed with the West Nile virus last week. The man has not been abroad recently. He may have contracted the virus in the region of Utrecht due to a mosquito bite. In this region, birds and mosquitoes have been detected with the West Nile virus in August and September. This is the first time that an infection with this virus has been diagnosed in a person who has contracted it in the Netherlands.

February 27, 2020

Preparing for the Next Pandemic: The Emerging Infectious Disease Threat

Emerging infectious diseases are relatively little understood. Their periodic, unpredictable outbreaks can quickly transform into global pandemics, as was the case with SARS and avian influenza. They tend to be zoonotic (deriving from an animal source), infect thousands of people at a time, engender significant fear and panic, and have high mortality rates, which is frequently because the public infrastructure to diagnose, prevent and treat them is lacking. Newer examples of these diseases include MERS and Ebola, both of which are RNA viruses with the ability to mutate from one outbreak to the next, making them that much deadlier.

October 1, 2021

Origins of SARS-CoV-2: window is closing for key scientific studies

Authors of the March WHO report into how COVID-19 emerged warn that further delay makes crucial inquiry biologically difficult.

July 16, 2020

VEO: 15 million for developing a system to predict the risk of infectious diseases outbreaks

15 July 2020, the VEO (Versatile Emerging infectious disease Observatory) project – a research consortium of 20 partners from 12 European countries – officially started.

June 5, 2020

Dutch coronamedicin in massproduction

A large American pharmaceutical company will immediately start mass production of a corona drug, based on an antibody found in the Netherlands.

May 27, 2021

Dutch Young Virologists Seminar (DYVS)

An online monthly seminar series will allow PhD candidates to showcase their work and connect with everyone in the virology community.

March 11, 2021

Human is also an animal. Rotterdam Science Gallery Online Masterclass

Thursday 25 February 2021 | 20.00 - 20.45 uur | Livestream via YouTube "The human is also an animal" is the second edition of a series of online masterclasses in which a scientist and artist talk live about COVID-19 and the lockdown. Where exactly does the coronavirus come from? During this masterclass they talk to virologist Marion Koopmans and visual artist Iwan Smit about the One Health approach. It assumes that people's health does not stand alone, especially when it comes to infectious diseases. After all, aren't humans animals too?

March 9, 2021

Corona proof dining out with online tool

Scientists of Wageningen University & Research, TU Delft and Erasmus MC have developed an online tool that helps determine how indoor spaces can be designed and used corona proof. With the OpenSmartTogether tool, restaurant owners can limit the risks of the spreading of the coronavirus in their restaurant. The researchers are inviting restaurant owners to participate in an online pilot.