Fusaro Alice

Fusaro Alice | IZSVe Role Biologist
Structure European Union Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease
SCS5 – Research and Innovation
Phone +39 049 8084368
E-mail afusaro@izsvenezie.it

Professional profile

Alice Fusaro has a master degree in biotechnology for food products (University of Padua, 2006) and a PhD in veterinary sciences (University of Padua, 2014). She is currently a biologist director at the Viral Genomics and Transcriptomics Laboratory, where she coordinates sequencing and genetic analyses of emerging and zoonotic RNA viruses responsible of the major diseases of animals, including avian influenza and Newcastle disease as well as SARS-CoV-2 in humans and animals.

Her current research focuses on the evolutionary genetics of RNA viruses responsible of animal infections, with special emphasis on the major mechanisms of virus evolution, the molecular epidemiology of important emerging pathogens and the roles played by mutations, natural selection, recombination, and gene flow in shaping patterns of genetic diversity on RNA viruses. Thanks to the application of high-throughput whole-genome next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, she investigates the inter- and intra-host genetic diversity of RNA viruses to shed light on the critical mechanisms central to viral evolution, parthenogenesis, transmission, host adaptation and emergence of viruses with pandemic potential.

She actively participates in various national and international research projects and collaborates with international and European organization such as FAO, EFSA, and ECDC. Since 2020, she has been a member of the EFSA Standing Working Group (SWG) on avian influenza.

She is trainer or keynote speaker at international workshops and congresses and actively participates in training programmes promoted by IZSVe and/or international institutions (e.g. UN-FAO, IAEA).

She has authored or co-authored over 150 publications, which include peer review articles published in national and international journals and conference presentations.

Publications

  • Świętoń E, Fusaro A, Shittu I, Niemczuk K, Zecchin B, Joannis T, Bonfante F, Śmietanka K, Terregino C. Sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia Ancestry of Reassortant Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Virus, Europe, December 2019. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Jul;26(7):1557-1561. doi: 10.3201/eid2607.200165. PMID: 32568059; PMCID: PMC7323556.
  • Laleye AT, Bianco A, Shittu I, Sulaiman L, Fusaro A, Inuwa B, Oyetunde J, Zecchin B, Bakam J, Pastori A, Olawuyi K, Schivo A, Meseko C, Vakuru C, Fortin A, Monne I, Joannis T. Genetic characterization of highly pathogenic avian Influenza H5Nx clade 2.3.4.4b reveals independent introductions in nigeria. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2021 Jan 21. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14000. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33480188.
  • Shittu I, Meseko CA, Sulaiman LP, Inuwa B, Mustapha M, Zakariya PS, Muhammad AA, Muhammad U, Atuman YJ, Barde IJ, Zecchin B, Quaranta EG, Shamaki D, Alabi O, Monne I, Fusaro A, Joannis TM. Fatal multiple outbreaks of equine influenza H3N8 in Nigeria, 2019: The first introduction of Florida clade 1 to West Africa. Vet Microbiol. 2020 Sep;248:108820. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2020.108820. Epub 2020 Aug 13. PMID: 32891950.
  • Mazzetto E, Bortolami A, Fusaro A, Mazzacan E, Maniero S, Vascellari M, Beato MS, Schiavon E, Chiapponi C, Terregino C, Monne I, Bonfante F. Replication of Influenza D Viruses of Bovine and Swine Origin in Ovine Respiratory Explants and Their Attachment to the Respiratory Tract of Bovine, Sheep, Goat, Horse, and Swine. Front Microbiol. 2020 May 25;11:1136. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01136. PMID: 32523585; PMCID: PMC7261881.
  • Brown Jordan A, Fusaro A, Blake L, Milani A, Zamperin G, Brown G, Carrington CVF, Monne I, Oura CAL. Characterization of novel, pathogenic field strains of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) in poultry in Trinidad and Tobago. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2020 Nov;67(6):2775-2788. doi: 10.1111/tbed.13637. Epub 2020 Jun 13. PMID: 32438523.
  • Bianco A, Zecchin B, Fusaro A, Schivo A, Ormelli S, Bregoli M, Citterio CV, Obber F, Dellamaria D, Trevisiol K, Lorenzetto M, De Benedictis P, Monne I. Two waves of canine distemper virus showing different spatio-temporal dynamics in Alpine wildlife (2006-2018). Infect Genet Evol. 2020 Oct;84:104359. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104359. Epub 2020 May 11. PMID: 32407794.
  • Shittu I, Bianco A, Gado D, Mkpuma N, Sulaiman L, Laleye A, Gobbo F, Bortolami A, Bonfante F, Vakuru C, Meseko C, Fusaro A, Shamaki D, Alabi O, Terregino C, Joannis T. First detection of highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus on the African continent. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec;9(1):886-888. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1757999. PMID: 32312185; PMCID: PMC7241522.
  • Abdollahi H, Maken Ali AS, Monne I, Milani A, Habibi M, Zamperin G, Ghafouri SA, Maghsoudloo H, Mohammadpoor B, Esmaeilzadeh S, Farahani RK, Ghasemi Y, Afzalkhani AA, Nabipoor J, Javanmardi B, Fusaro A, Zecchin B. Spatial spread and emergence of reassortant H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses in Iran. Infect Genet Evol. 2020 Sep;83:104342. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104342. Epub 2020 Apr 27. PMID: 32348876.
  • Fusaro A, Zecchin B, Vrancken B, Abolnik C, Ademun R, Alassane A, Arafa A, Awuni JA, Couacy-Hymann E, Coulibaly M’B, Gaidet N, Go-Maro E, Joannis T, Jumbo SD, Minoungou G, Meseko C, Souley MM, Ndumu DB, Shittu I, Twabela A, Wade A, Wiersma L, Akpeli YP, Zamperin G, Milani A, Lemey P, Monne I. Disentangling the role of Africa in the global spread of H5 highly pathogenic avian influenza. Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 22;10(1):5310. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13287-y. PMID: 31757953; PMCID: PMC6874648.
  • Fusaro A, Monne I, Mulatti P, Zecchin B, Bonfanti L, Ormelli S, Milani A, Cecchettin K, Lemey P, Moreno A, Massi P, Dorotea T, Marangon S, Terregino C. Genetic Diversity of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8/H5N5) Viruses in Italy, 2016-17. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Sep;23(9):1543-1547. doi: 10.3201/eid2309.170539. Epub 2017 Sep 17. PMID: 28661831; PMCID: PMC5572881.
  • Milani A, Fusaro A, Bonfante F, Zamperin G, Salviato A, Mancin M, Mastrorilli E, Hughes J, Hussein HA, Hassan M, Mundt E, Terregino C, Cattoli G, Monne I. Vaccine immune pressure influences viral population complexity of avian influenza virus during infection. Vet Microbiol. 2017 May;203:88-94. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2017.02.016. Epub 2017 Feb 27. PMID: 28619173.
  • Beato MS, Tassoni L, Milani A, Salviato A, Di Martino G, Mion M, Bonfanti L, Monne I, Watson SJ, Fusaro A. Circulation of multiple genotypes of H1N2 viruses in a swine farm in Italy over a two-month period. Vet Microbiol. 2016 Nov 15;195:25-29. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2016.08.015. Epub 2016 Sep 7. PMID: 27771067.
  • Fusaro A, Tassoni L, Milani A, Hughes J, Salviato A, Murcia PR, Massi P, Zamperin G, Bonfanti L, Marangon S, Cattoli G, Monne I. Unexpected Interfarm Transmission Dynamics during a Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Epidemic. J Virol. 2016 Jun 24;90(14):6401-6411. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00538-16. PMID: 27147741; PMCID: PMC4936132.
  • Fusaro A, Tassoni L, Hughes J, Milani A, Salviato A, Schivo A, Murcia PR, Bonfanti L, Cattoli G, Monne I. Evolutionary trajectories of two distinct avian influenza epidemics: Parallelisms and divergences. Infect Genet Evol. 2015 Aug;34:457-66. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.05.020. Epub 2015 May 20. PMID: 26003682.
  • Van Borm S, Belák S, Freimanis G, Fusaro A, Granberg F, Höper D, King DP, Monne I, Orton R, Rosseel T. Next-generation sequencing in veterinary medicine: how can the massive amount of information arising from high-throughput technologies improve diagnosis, control, and management of infectious diseases? Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1247:415-36. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2004-4_30. PMID: 25399113; PMCID: PMC7123048.