Understanding bluetongue and lumpy skin disease

Abstract

Prof Estelle Venter has been working in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria (UP) for the past 30 years. She has produced more than 70 publications and for the past four years she has been one of the top ten researchers in the Faculty. She supervised and co-supervised on average ten postgraduate students per year for the past seven years. A professor in the Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, her years of specialisation in virology, especially in arboviruses, have earned her a C2 rating from the NRF. Since doing her master’s degree, Prof Venter has been working on the Rift Valley fever virus. This mosquito-borne virus infects both humans and animals. The 2008 to 2011 outbreaks of Rift Valley fever in South Africa resulted in a high number of deaths, including that of a young veterinarian. Prof Venter’s research focuses mainly on the epidemiology (incidence, distribution and possible control) of the disease. Prof Venter has also studied diseases that can have significant implications for farmers and communities, particularly bluetongue and lumpy skin disease, which occur predominantly in livestock.