Ranavirus Epidemiology and Evolution

Ranaviruses are large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses particularly noted for their ability to cause serious disease in amphibians (Price et al. 2014). Two lineages of Ranavirus are currently responsible for emerging disease in Europe and we have been working with each in the UK and Spain respectively. Ranavirus is an important pathogen in both systems but observed host range varies considerably. We are very interested in characterising this variation and exploring the potential genomic basis for it and are using whole genome sequencing to further understand virus evolution and patterns of emergence.