The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), located in Entebbe

Entebbe

Entebbe is a major town in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, the town was at one time, the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda, prior to Independence in 1962...

, Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

, was established in 1936 as the Yellow Fever Research Institute by the Rockefeller Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

. In 1950, after gaining regional recognition it was renamed the East African Virus Research institute (EAVRI). After the collapse of the East African Community

East African Community

The East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...

 in 1977, it became a Uganda Government

Politics of Uganda

Uganda is a presidential republic, in which the President of Uganda is both head of state and head of government; there is a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly...

 public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

 research institution and was renamed the Uganda Virus Research Institute. The Government of Uganda now administers and funds the institute through the Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO) which is an umbrella research body with in the Uganda Ministry of Health

Uganda Ministry of Health

The Uganda Health Ministry, commonly known as the Uganda Ministry of Health, is a government department in Uganda. The ministry is headed by three cabinet members; one Minister of Health and two State Ministers of Health.-Location:...

.

The mission of the institute is to carry out scientific research

Scientific method

Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...

 concerning communicable diseases

Infectious disease

Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...

, especially viral

Virus

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

 diseases of public health importance and to advise the government on strategies for control and prevention. It consists of 3 buildings linked by a 2.4 GHz secure wireless network, with a satellite uplink.

The institute also plays a large role in coordinating and administering virology

Virology

Virology is the study of viruses and virus-like agents: their structure, classification and evolution, their ways to infect and exploit cells for virus reproduction, the diseases they cause, the techniques to isolate and culture them, and their use in research and therapy...

 related clinical trial

Clinical trial

Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...

s within the county. Most recently the institute has been involved in human HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 vaccine

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins...

 clinical trials. The HIV/AIDS Reference and Quality Assurance Laboratory (HRL), which is part of the institute plays an important role in making public policy recommendations to the Uganda National Drug Authority on the access and usage of new drugs and medical technologies

Medical technology

Medical Technology encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and is used to diagnose, monitor or treat diseases or medical conditions affecting humans. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of healthcare delivered through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and...

. The role of the Uganda National Drug Authority is similar to that of the Food and Drug Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 (FDA) in the United States.

The institute was the first to isolate more than 20 new arbovirus

Arbovirus

Arbovirus is a term used to refer to a group of viruses that are transmitted by arthropod vectors. The word arbovirus is an acronym . Some arboviruses are able to cause emergent disease.-Transmission:...

es, including West Nile Virus

West Nile virus

West Nile virus is a virus of the family Flaviviridae. Part of the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of viruses, it is found in both tropical and temperate regions. It mainly infects birds, but is known to infect humans, horses, dogs, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, domestic...

, Bwamba Fever

Bwamba Fever

Bwamba Fever virus is from the genus Orthobunyavirus and belongs to the order Bunyaviridae. It has a negative sense single stranded RNA genome, and so is classified as a class V virus under the Baltimore classification system. The genome is segmented into three pieces, Large , Medium and Small ,...

, Semliki Forest Virus

Semliki Forest Virus

The Semliki Forest virus was first isolated from mosquitoes in the Semliki Forest, Uganda by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in 1942. It is known to cause disease in both animals and man...

, Orungo

Orungo

Orungo virus is an arbovirus of the genus Orbivirus and the family Reoviridae). It was first isolated by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda....

, Kadam

Kadam virus

The Kadam virus is a tick-borne Flavivirus. It was first isolated by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda....

, and O'nyong'nyong

O'nyong'nyong virus

The O'nyong'nyong virus or O'nyong-nyong virus is a virus first isolated by the Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda in 1959. It is a togavirus , genus Alphavirus and is closely related to the Chikungunya and Igbo Ora viruses. The name comes from the Nilotic language of Uganda and...

.

Major Efforts

The Rakai Project: A population-based HIV and STD

Sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...

 study currently covering all consenting adults in 44 villages in rural Rakai District

Rakai

Rakai is a town in Central Uganda. It is the headquarters of Rakai District. The district is named after the town.-Location:Rakai is located approximately , by road, southwest of Masaka, the largest town in the sub-region. This location is approximately , by road, southwest of Kampala, Uganda's...

in southwestern Uganda.