Epidemiology and outbreak prediction of yellow fever virus

Mosquito-borne virus outbreaks are intensifying worldwide. Escalation of yellow fever virus (YFV) is particularly concerning because - despite widespread vaccination - it kills more than other mosquito-borne viruses. Severe under-reporting has prevented deeper understanding of how YFV spreads. We know strikingly little about YFV transmission in its animal reservoir, or how YFV escapes this reservoir to cause large outbreaks of human disease. Recent breakthroughs in virus genome sequencing and analysis offer new opportunities to generate data and reconstruct YFV transmission behaviour from sparsely sampled cases. My goal is to combine and exploit these new approaches to improve our understanding of YFV. I will implement innovative sequencing strategies to more effectively obtain YFV genomes from undersampled populations, and use these data to improve computational models of transmission. My research will identify what drives virus spread and improve our ability to predict and control outbreaks of YFV and other zoonotic diseases.