Zoonotic viruses emerging from wildlife and domesticated animals pose a
serious threat to human and animal health and are recognised as the most likely source
of the next pandemic. Containment of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks is
often difficult due to their unpredictability and the absence of effective control
measures, such as vaccines, therapies and diagnostics. RNA interference (RNAi)
provides a novel and effective therapeutic strategy to combat infectious diseases
through modulation of pathogen and/or host gene expression. In this chapter we discuss
the applications of RNAi to combat EIDs. We discuss how RNAi has furthered
understanding of virus lifecycles by making possible genome-wide functional genomics
studies to discover host functions that are essential for virus replication, and in the
process, identify new targets for antiviral therapies. We also discuss the advantages and
hurdles associated with the use of RNAi as antiviral therapeutics, in addition to the
engineering of disease-resistant livestock using RNAi to protect both humans and
animals from EIDs.
Keywords: Functional genomics, host-pathogen interactions, RNAi, RNAi
delivery.
