Gail Scherba
Professor, Pathobiology
Professor,
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Professional Interests: Herpesviral
latency, viral pathogenesis, and diagnosis.
Our current specific research
focus is herpesviral latency using a natural animal host-herpesvirus
model system, swine and Aujesky's disease (pseudorabies) virus (ADV).
Viral infections do not occur in a "vacuum," but rather in
an environment of complex cellular interactions. Therefore, the role
of the host in enabling or causing the virus to establish and reactivate
from latency also is an area of interest. In this regard, special emphasis
is placed on the host immune system.
Moreover, we are interested in the detection and examination of viral
recombinants arising from concurrent infections of vaccine and wild type
ADV in domestic and feral swine or nonporcine species that inhabit areas
were swine production facilities are located. Such mutants have potentially
altered virulence and may confound the efforts to eliminate the virus
from a swine herd.
Our more general research endeavors involve the molecular methodologies
applied for the identification and characterization of viruses of veterinary
importance. Toward this end, a board range of viruses from a variety
of animal species (domestic and exotic) are studied.
Selected Publications:
BC Long, TL Goldberg, SL Swenson, G Erickson and G Scherba. 2004. Adaptation and Limitations of established hemagglutination inhibition assays to the detection of porcine anti-swine influenza virus H1N2 antibodies. Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation. In Press.
RM Weigel, EC Hahn and G Scherba. 2003. Survival and immunization of raccoons after exposure to pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) virus gene-deleted vaccines. Veterinary Microbiology 92:19-24.
G Regula, G Scherba, NE Mateus-Pinilla, CA Lichtensteiger, GY Miller and RM Weigel. 2003. The impact of subclinical infection with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and other pathogens on reproductive performance in swine. Journal of Swine Health and Production 11:13-18.
ES Storey, PA Gerding, G Scherba and DJ Schaeffer. 2002. Survival of equine herpesvirus-4, feline herpesvirus-1 and feline calicivirus in multidose ophthalmic solutions. Veterinary Ophthalmology 5: 263-267.
AI Karasin, S Swenson, J Landgraf, G Erickson, S Goyal, M Woodruff, G Scherba, G Anderson and CW Olsen. 2002. Genetic characterization of H1N2 influenza A viruses isolated from pigs in multiple states throughout the United States. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 40:1073-1079.
