His curiosity about how people become sick, how these sicknesses are treated, how the body fights diseases, and what tools are used for diagnosis of these viruses, inspired
Dr Tumelo Sekee to successfully pursue a PhD in Virology. His research with mosquitoes as vectors of flaviviruses, also led to the detection of new viruses in the central region of South Africa.
“Growing up, I only knew that mosquitoes were pests you swatted after they sucked your blood. I had no idea they carried viruses that are highly pathogenic to both humans and animals. I wondered how cures are made and how preventive measures like vaccines are developed.
“At the same time, I questioned why some diseases could not be cured or treated at all. This curiosity naturally drew me toward studying viruses and ultimately led me to choose this field,” said Dr Sekee, who graduated on Friday (12 December 2025) at the
Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremony.
Dr Sekee contributes his successful completion of this degree partly to Prof Burt’s expert advice and motivation. “If there is one supervisor I would recommend for anyone, it is Prof Burt. Her expert advice in Arbovirology motivated me and helped carry me through to the end. Her guidance throughout this project, combined with her constructive feedback and patience, kept me going.
“There were times when I missed deadlines for submitting chapters, but she never gave up on me – instead, she encouraged me and pushed me to the finish line. If I were to pursue another PhD in Virology, I would choose her again without hesitation. Thank you, Prof Burt, for your patience and guidance; this would not have been possible without you.”
Prof Burt says it is a very exciting and proud moment for the research chair to have two PhD graduates. “I am very proud to be able to refer to Tumelo as Dr Sekee, he has a strong work ethic and persevered despite challenges.”
Says Dr Sekee: “I am over the moon, especially considering that I had doubts about pursuing this degree. I invested so much hard work into this PhD – the sleepless nights, the moments when I wanted to give up. It truly hasn’t been an easy journey, particularly because I was working at the same time.
“My journey was manageable for the most part, until I reached my final objective – which took more than a year to complete. That phase was incredibly frustrating, but eventually everything came together, and I was able to submit,” he says.
Besides his curiosity, it was also a colleague’s work on mosquitoes that piqued his interest in this research field. With his research study titled Ecology of flaviviruses in central South Africa, Dr Sekee detected Bagaza and Kamiti River-like viruses for the first time in the central region of South Africa. Bagaza virus was further characterised, and additional viruses previously reported in the country were also identified during this research.
Contribute and add valuable knowledge
“Flaviviruses,” he explains, “are currently emerging in new areas and re-emerging in regions where they were previously present. Many of these emerging and re-emerging flaviviruses originate from Africa, yet there is still limited information available about them.” He continues: “In this study, I explored the ecology of flaviviruses, and the results indicate that these viruses are circulating in this region. The information generated through this research will contribute to the limited data available in the country and add valuable knowledge to the global understanding of flaviviruses.”
From his work, two publications were produced: one on arboviruses detected in central South Africa, and the second on the characterisation of Bagaza virus using MinION sequencing.