The present invention is directed to a method of assessing in vivo human glial cell response to pathogenic infection that involves providing a non-human mammal either with at least 30% of its glial cells in its corpus callosum being human glial cells and/or with at least 5% of its glial cells its brain and brain stem white matter being human glial cells, subjecting the non-human mammal to pathogenic infection and assessing the in vivo human glial cell response to pathogenic infection. A method of identifying therapeutic agents for the pathogenic infection as well as forms of the non-human mammal having a pathogenic brain infection are also disclosed.

Methods, compositions, devices, and kits are described herein that are useful for detecting BoHV-1 infection in animals and/or for distinguishing animals that may benefit from administration of BoHV-1 tmv vaccine.

Provided are methods of diagnosing a viral disease such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a patient by identifying one or more virus-specific elements such as a nucleic acid or a viral protein or a patient antibody to a virus-specific element, as well as to kits for diagnosing the viral disease in a patient. Further provided are methods of monitoring disease progression and/or the efficacy of therapy by measuring the levels of a virus-specific element in a sample from a patient, and methods of identifying therapeutic agents that show efficacy in reducing levels of virus-specific agents in vitro. Still further provided are methods of treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lymphoproliferative disease and cancer, as well as to methods of preventing viral infection, including Herpesvirus saimiri infection.

Described herein are materials and methods for stratifying risk for reactivation of a latent viral infection, such as CMV infection. The methods are particularly useful for immune compromised subjects. Also described herein are interventions, including therapeutic, prophylactic, and monitoring interventions, for subjects determined to be at elevated risk.

Methods, compositions, devices, and kits are described herein that are useful for detecting BoHV-1 infection in animals and/or for distinguishing animals that may benefit from administration of BoHV-1 tmv vaccine.

Described herein are materials and methods for stratifying risk for reactivation of a latent viral infection, such as CMV infection. The methods are particularly useful for immune compromised subjects. Also described herein are interventions, including therapeutic, prophylactic, and monitoring interventions, for subjects determined to be at elevated risk.

This disclosure relates to methods of diagnosing a viral disease such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Castleman's disease, a lymphoma, a thymoma or a sarcoma in a patient by identifying one or more virus-specific elements such as a nucleic acid or a viral protein or a patient antibody to a virus-specific element, as well as to kits for diagnosing the viral disease in a patient. The disclosure further relates to methods of monitoring disease progression and/or the efficacy of therapy by measuring the levels of a virus-specific element in a sample from a patient. In addition, the disclosure relates to methods of identifying therapeutic agents that show efficacy in reducing levels of virus-specific agents in vitro. The disclosure further relates to methods of treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lymphoproliferative disease and cancer, as well as to methods of preventing viral infection, including Herpesvirus saimiri infection.

Provided are an epitope peptide (or a variant thereof) that can be used for preventing or treating an EBV infection, a recombinant protein containing the epitope peptide (or variant thereof) and a carrier protein, and the use of the epitope peptide (or variant thereof) and the recombinant protein. Further provided are an antibody against the epitope peptide, and the use thereof in the detection, prevention and/or treatment of an EBV infection and/or diseases caused by the infection.

Methods, compositions, devices, and kits are described herein that are useful for detecting BoHV-1 infection in animals and/or for distinguishing animals that may benefit from administration of BoHV-1 tmv vaccine.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is an opportunistic pathogen causing Kaposi's sarcoma. It is capable of establishing latent infection, which can be reactivated to engage lytic infection for progeny production. KSHV contains a ?165 kilobase DNA genome predicted to encode at least 90 open reading frames (ORFs). In this report, we generated 91 KSHV mutants, each characterized by the disruption of a single viral ORF. The growth of these mutants in cultured cells was examined to systematically investigate the necessity of each ORF for viral latency, reactivation, and lytic replication. Salient aspects are (a) 44 ORFs are essential for viral lytic replication in cultured cells and 47 are nonessential; (b) KSHV reactivation can be positively or negatively regulated by specific viral ORFs; and (c) ORFs identified to regulate viral reactivation encode functions modulating both innate and adaptive immune responses. The intersection of viral immunomodulatory genes controlling reactivation suggests that KSHV engages in a concerted effort to communicate and respond to the host immune system for reactivation and replication using a viral sensory network. Our results imply a novel mechanism in which reactivation of KSHV is actively controlled by the virus in response to its surrounding environment, leading to the opportunistic nature of viral diseases that are strongly correlated to the host's immune status and conditions.