A family tree of more than 200 variations in the virus that causes COVID-19 helps explain why two Wisconsin counties — just 75 miles apart, but far from the origins of the virus — had …
Research News
First Relatives of Rubella Virus Discovered in Bats in Uganda and Mice in Germany
Posted onAt 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 …
New Vaccine Strategy Harnesses ‘Foot Soldier’ T-Cells To Provide Protection Against Influenza
Posted onAs 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 onUntil 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) …
Summer Scholars Present Research Virtually at 2020 National Veterinary Symposium
Posted onThe UW School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) was well represented at the 2020 Virtual Veterinary Student Scholars Symposium in August, held online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seventeen doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) …
Advancing the Fight Against a Global Pandemic
Posted onBy studying the novel coronavirus from many angles and disciplines, UW–Madison is at the forefront of fighting COVID-19. School of Veterinary Medicine researchers are leading several of these studies, helping to address major challenges of …
Simpler COVID-19 Test Could Provide Results in Hours From Saliva
Posted onVolunteers 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 …
COVID Questions: Superspreaders, Herd Immunity
Posted onNote: UW-Madison will be publishing answers to questions about COVID-19 and the pandemic each week in a COVID questions column. If you have a question, please email it to covid19update@uc.wisc.edu. This post was originally published …
Parasitic worms use their keen senses to wriggle through their hosts
Posted onParasitic 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 onThe 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 …