Pat Nuttall laboratory reagent, a result that was published in "Nature" in 1977. She then worked with ornithologist Chris Perrins trying to identify the virus responsible for puffinosis, a disease that affects the Manx shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus") sea bird. During this research, Nuttall visited sea-bird colonies and became interested in ticks, arthropods that often infest sea birds as well as other vertebrates, and can act as vectors for disease. In the early 1980s, Nuttall started to study viruses transmitted by ticks, initially focusing on orbiviruses, nairoviruses and thogotoviruses. While performing experiments designed to explore whether "Thogoto virus", an influenza-like virus, can be
Ponta dos Rosais and agricultural areas, with most of the region taken-up by rural activities. Tourists visiting the area are attracted by the diversity of migratory and maritime bird species that nest in the cliffs of the point, including the migratory Corey's Shearwater ("Calonectris diomedea") and Little shearwater ("Puffinus assimilis"), but also the Roseate ("Sterna dougallii") and Common Terns ("Sterna hirundo"). Endemic predator species in these areas include feral cats and dogs, as well as rodents, but the latter limited by local kite species. But, the region is a hothouse of Azorean heather ("Erica azorica") and Forget-me-nots ("Myosotis azorica"). Ponta dos Rosais Ponta