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Table 4 VIP research agenda for human, plant, and animal virology

From: Research priority-setting for human, plant, and animal virology: an online experience for the Virology Institute of the Philippines

Rank

Research agenda

Human virology

Plant virology

Animal virology

1

What mechanisms on collaborative data-sharing between the Virology Institute and other agencies or institutions are needed to allow for early warning system of impending outbreaks and to allow activating outbreak preparedness plans at all levels?

Detection, diagnosis, diversity, and molecular characterization of emerging and re-emerging plant diseases caused by viruses and viroids

What is the approach to surveillance and bioprospecting of viruses in all possible reservoirs, which have the potential to infect, or to evolve to infect, humans and/or be used for biological warfare or terrorism?

2

What are the circulating human viruses that have the most burden of disease, such as in terms of mortality rate, infectivity, or years lost to ill health or disability, to create a comprehensive molecular epidemiology (including collection, identification, and characterization through either cultures, genome sequencing, or biobanks) and knowledge of microbial pathogenesis of these relevant viral diseases in the Philippines?

What existing diagnostic tests or diagnostic tests under development, including those developed by local scientists, are available for application among food crops and other economically important plants, and how are they applied in subnational, regional, or local jurisdictions?

What is the current status of control and management of endemic viruses that affect poultry, livestock, and aquaculture, and what are better ways or strategies to mitigate the impact of these viruses?

3

What diagnostics can be developed to aid in the accurate and efficient diagnosis of viral infections, including the use of molecular diagnostics, and what mechanisms can be developed for monitoring field performance and quality assurance?

How should an integrated management of plant virus diseases be effected?

What are the epidemiologic, molecular, and virulence characteristics of all of the viral diseases that afflict aquaculture, including tilapia, shellfish, and crustaceans, and what are the ways to manage these diseases?

4

How can we develop multiple-pathogen diagnostic assay(s) for detection, diagnosis, and surveillance of disease with outbreak potential? (e.g., novel zoonotic emerging acute respiratory diseases/syndromes, and arthropod- and other vector-borne diseases)

What are effective control strategies for plant viruses?

What disease-causing viruses are present in wildlife species, especially priority species, and what is their molecular epidemiology?

5

How should the Institute establish or enhance medical countermeasures in the Philippines to include diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics against emerging viral infectious diseases?

Detection, diagnosis, and diversity of economically important plant viruses

In terms of biosafety, what is the appropriate approach for multi-species viruses, zoonotic viruses, and other viruses with dual use or potential risk for biological warfare or terrorism?

6

How should viral (biologically active and inactive) and viral antibody (IgG and IgM) diagnostics technology that can be applied at subnational (or regional) laboratories and/or points of use be developed?

What is the current status of control and management of endemic plant viruses in the country?

What are the potential hotspots and transmission factors for zoonoses?

7

How should surveillance and monitoring of novel and emerging pathogens and infectious diseases (including antigenic, genetic, environmental, and epidemiologic information) be programmed into the Institute?

What are the risks of virus and virus-like agents with introducing plant material and planting materials from crop production or importation?

What exotic viruses and virus-like agents are likely introduced with the importation of poultry, livestock, and aquaculture products?

8

What safe and efficient monitoring and surveillance strategies and methods can be developed for collecting, detecting/isolating high-consequence zoonotic viral pathogens in animals?

How can whole genome sequencing be used to better understand the characteristics, including the virulence, of viruses affecting economically important crops?

Should the Institute perform molecular characterization, including whole genome sequencing, of key poultry, livestock, and aquaculture viruses?

9

What are the important components in terms of necessary infrastructure, utilities, and security systems for a virology research institute to produce vaccines?

What point-of-care diagnostic tools and control strategies can be developed using serological- and molecular-based assays, including whole genome sequencing?

What are endemic and non-endemic poultry, livestock, and aquaculture viruses that seriously affect poultry, livestock, and aquaculture, and what is their prevalence and geographic distribution?

10

What new drugs from local sources can be developed against viral diseases, such as dengue, influenza, Japanese encephalitis, swine flu, COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, and other viral respiratory diseases?

What are novel conventional and molecular breeding methods applicable to crops for resistance to major plant virus diseases?

What are the molecular characteristics and ways to manage all viral diseases that afflict swine?