Maria Luísa Vieira

My work is focused on the study of spirochetes (Borrelia and Leptospira) with particular emphasis on the following aspects: (i) Antigenic and molecular characterization of (new) species; (ii) Epidemiology of leptospirosis and Lyme disease in Portugal; (iii) Development of molecular tools for early diagnosis of leptospirosis, and application of new immunological techniques (eg detection of concentration of CXCL13 by ELISA) for neuroborreliosis diagnostic; (iv) Study of vector-pathogen-host relationships; and (v) Differential diagnosis of febrile illnesses (malaria vs leptospirosis) in Angola and Mozambique – an integrated approach.

Team: [MSc, Teresa Carreira (Lab Technician) and students MSc and PhD in training, and the collaboration of the external Investigators: Luisa Mota-Vieira ( PhD), at the Hospital Divino Espirito Santo, Azores; Maria João Solecki,(PhD) Tennessee University, Memphis, (USA); Yanna Nóbrega, (PhD), University of Brasilia, Brazil.

1. Pereira A, Parreira R, Cotão AJ, Nunes M, Vieira ML, Azevedo F, Campino L, Maia C. 2018. Tick-borne bacteria and protozoa detected in ticks collected from domestic animals and wildlife in central and southern Portugal. Ticks and Tick-borne Dis, 9(2): 225-234. Available in: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2017.09.008
2. Nunes M, Parreira R, Carreira T, Inácio J, Vieira ML. 2018. Development and evaluation of a two-step multiplex TaqMan real-time PCR assay for detection/quantification of different genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Ticks and Tick-borne Dis, 9(2): 176- 182. Available in: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2017.09.001
3. Pereira A, Figueira L, Nunes N, Esteves A, Cotão AJ, Vieira ML, Maia C, Campino L, Parreira R. 2017. Multiple Phlebovirus (Bunyaviridae) genetic groups detected in Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma and Dermacentor ticks from southern Portugal. Ticks and Tick-borne Dis 8, 45-52. Available in: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2016.09.015
4. Nunes M, Parreira R, Lopes N, Maia C, Carreira T, Sousa C, Faria S, Campino, L, Vieira ML. 2015. Molecular identification of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes ricinus from Portugal. Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.); 15(8):515-517.
   doi:10.1089/vbz.2014.1765.  Available in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26273814
5. Ferreira AS, Costa P, Rocha T, Amaro A, Vieira ML, Ahmed A, Thompson G, Harstkeerl RA, Inácio J. 2014. Direct detection and differentiation of pathogenic Leptospira species using a multigene targeted real-time PCR approach. PLOS One, 9(11): e112312doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112312. Available in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4232388/