Press Release

Andrew Bennett, a former graduate student in the UW–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, holds a cyclops leaf-nosed bat during field work in Uganda’s Kibale National Park, in search of viruses carried by the animals

First Relatives of Rubella Virus Discovered in Bats in Uganda and Mice in Germany

Posted on October 7, 2020

At night in a Ugandan forest, a team of American and African scientists take oral swabs from insect-eating cyclops leaf-nosed bats. In a necropsy room near the Baltic Sea, researchers try to determine what killed …

three-dimensional, semi-transparent rendering of a whole influenza virus shows both the clover-like surface proteins on the outside of the virus, as well as the internal ribonucleoproteins on the inside

New Vaccine Strategy Harnesses ‘Foot Soldier’ T-Cells To Provide Protection Against Influenza

Posted on September 22, 2020

As Americans begin pulling up their sleeves for an annual flu vaccine, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have provided new insights into an alternative vaccine approach that provides broader protection against seasonal influenza. In a …

Mass Freshwater Mussel Die-offs Linked to New Virus

Posted on September 9, 2020

Until now, no one has been able to pin down why the world’s wild, freshwater mussels—often unnoticed and underappreciated engineers of stream and river health—are facing massive, unexpected die-offs. In a paper published today (September 2, 2020) …

Usually about 15 thousandths of an inch long, the tardigrade at Treinen Farms in Lodi covers 15 acres with miles of maze paths. To build the corn maze, crew members put flags on the field marking important spots on the design, and then they come through with a commercial lawn mower to start cutting the design. Then, they use a tiller to carve out the path.

Wisconsin Corn Maze, Designed by DVM Alumna, Features Resilient Tardigrade

Posted on September 1, 2020

Fall is the season for corn mazes across the Midwest, but this year one Lodi farm is taking your traditional corn maze to the next level — by cutting it in the shape of science’s …

Scientists Roger Wiseman and Miranda Stauss process small vials of spit collected from volunteers

Simpler COVID-19 Test Could Provide Results in Hours From Saliva

Posted on August 7, 2020

Volunteers at four sites in Madison are being tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 by spitting in a vial, which may prove faster, cheaper and less complicated than other common tests, according to …

Parasitic worms use their keen senses to wriggle through their hosts

Posted on July 10, 2020

Parasitic filarial nematodes infect hundreds of millions of people, causing diseases such as river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, which can lead to elephantiasis, a severe swelling of the limbs. Mosquitoes spread the parasitic worms, which …

Forming Genitals in Boys Requires Complex Dance Between Genes and Hormones

Posted on June 25, 2020

The most common congenital disorders of all, especially in baby boys, are differences in a newborn’s sexual anatomy that is not standard female or male. In boys, they include undescended testicles, misplaced urethras, and improperly …

Images of the lungs of hamsters before and after infection with SARS-CoV-2, from CT scans at UW Veterinary Care at the School of Veterinary Medicine

Hamsters Develop Protective Immunity to COVID-19 and Are Protected by Convalescent Sera

Posted on June 22, 2020

In an animal model for COVID-19 that shares important features of human disease, scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the University of Tokyo and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai show that prior …

Study Confirms Cats Can Become Infected With and May Transmit COVID-19 to Other Cats

Posted on May 13, 2020

In a study published today (May 13, 2020) in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in the U.S. and Japan report that in the laboratory, cats can readily become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus …

Mainstaiing a bit social distance due to COVID-19, researchers David O'Connor, left, and Tom Friedrich are pictured in a lab at the AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory (AVRL) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on March 18, 2020. O'Connor is UW Medical Foundation Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the School of Medicine and Public Health. Friedrich is professor of pathobiological sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Both are experts on the evolution and emergence of HIV (AIDS), SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza, Zika and other viruses. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

UW–Madison Researches Coronavirus Transmission

Posted on April 30, 2020

Preliminary data from a UW–Madison research team suggests that travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines are working in Wisconsin. That was just one of the insights on COVID-19 from UW–Madison expert Thomas Friedrich, professor of …