In the upcoming months NCOH will be hosting a series of scientific lectures on COVID-19, with a special focus on the One Health approach to current challenges. The first webinar “COVID-19 in minks” will be held on 6 July, World Zoonoses Day!

Human-to-human transmission is the driver of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the possibility that the new coronavirus SARS-Cov2 will infect other animal species again remains of concern. Partners within NCOH are starting to research the role of cats in potential virus transmission of this respiratory tract infection.

Several NCOH Principal Investigators gave an update from their medical-scientific perspective in the well-attended webinar The new coronavirus, from current threat to long-term lifestyle change on Tuesday evening 19 May 2020.

The coronavirus is not an isolated case. Experts warn of the increasing risk of zoonoses, infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans. “Usually it ends well, sometimes it doesn’t.”

The H2020 funded innovative training network “Training towards Innovative Personalized Antibiotic Therapy” (TIPAT) has available 13 PhD positions in the area of pharmacology, microbiology and immunology for treatment of bacterial infections.

Viruses such as ebola and corona are warning signals from nature. Because man turns the balance between (wild) animals and their environment upside down. The consensus among scientists worldwide is that we must therefore expect more and more epidemics.

We know that outbreaks like coronavirus will become more common in the future and tackling them is the Apollo programme of our time, according to Professor Marion Koopmans.

Early detection can save lives. Wageningen virologists are collaborating with veterinarians to detect potential pathogens in wildlife and livestock as early as possible.

A lot of the NCOH-PI’s are making their appearance in the media. This newsflash contains a shortlist of mentions of just the past weekend.

The upcoming NCOH-AMR meeting dd 9 April, the NCOH Annual Scientific Meeting dd 18 May will not take place due to the coronavirus outbreak.