Emerging and re-emerging diseases (EID) continue to pose a significant threat to populations in Europe and world-wide. An EU project took a closer look at how alphaviruses evade cellular antiviral response.
Alphaviruses are arthropod-borne viruses with RNA genome that are transmitted by mosquitoes and attack the brain. Once the host cells are infected, the viral RNA induces the antiviral pathway - the interferon inducible oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) / endoribonuclease L (RNAse L) system.
Further details: Viral evasion of alphaviruses