A centre for research into animal-borne diseases that can spread to humans has opened at Liverpool University. The Centre for Zoonosis Research will study diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and avian flu, as well as more common animal-human infections such as rabies. Malcolm Bennett, veterinary pathologist and co-director of the centre, said: "About two thirds of all human infections are transmitted from animals. Rabies kills more than 50,000 people every year, mainly in developing countries, while closer to home most cases of food poisoning are caused by zoonoses."