Schedule

Pandemic Respiratory Viruses: learning from the past & preparing for the future Par Kanta Subbarao, Ph. D., professeure titulaire au Département de microbiologie-infectiologie et d’immunologie de l'Université Laval, chercheuse au Centre de recherche CHU de Qc-UL et titulaire de la Chaire d’excellence en recherche du Canada sur la biologie et le contrôle des virus respiratoires zoonotiques et pandémiques. Résumé A large majority of emerging viruses have emerged from animal reservoirs as zoonoses. A virus that causes little or no disease in their natural hosts can cause severe disease in a new host. In some instances, zoonoses are sporadic infections that do not spread further. In other instances, they cause outbreaks or epidemics, that are controlled with public health measures. In rare instances, the pathogen spreads globally in a susceptible population, causing a pandemic. Coronaviruses and influenza viruses are prototype priority pathogens for pandemic preparedness: they are widely prevalent in animals, they have mechanisms for acquiring new genetic information that can extend their host-range, some viruses can spread by the airborne route, and both virus families have caused pandemics. The key features of pandemic respiratory viruses including zoonotic origin, host susceptibility and airborne spread and lessons from past pandemics that can applied to prepare for future pandemics will be discussed.