The Institut Pasteur is involved in AMAZED, a multidisciplinary project to study the mechanisms behind the emergence of arboviruses, in other words pathogens transmitted by insect vectors. The project, coordinated by the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, brings together the Institut Pasteur and three members of the Pasteur Network in France's overseas territories (French Guiana, Guadeloupe and New Caledonia), together with external partners. AMAZED has recently been granted €2.5 million in funding.
Zoonoses represent a major scientific and global challenge. There are over 200 known types of zoonosis, and they account for a significant percentage of new and existing diseases in humans (find out more on the WHO website). Their emergence and re-emergence are intrinsically linked to the pressures exerted on socio-ecosystems by human activities (decline in biodiversity, climate change, urbanization, intensification of livestock farming, etc.). Against this backdrop of global change, research in the French overseas territories is a major focus of the AMAZED (Amazonian Arbovirus Emergence Risk) project coordinated by the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane.
The AMAZED project recently received funding to the tune of 2.5 million euros as part of the ‘France 2030’ national initiative (and its PEPR PREZODE program on zoonotic diseases - page in French). This is a major contribution by the French government to prepare the country for a possible major health crisis, in connection with its strategy to accelerate the response to Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID), as part of the ‘health innovation’ component of the France 2030 Investment Plan.
Studying arbovirus emergence mechanisms
AMAZED, which is coordinated by Jean-Bernard Duchemin, a trained physician and entomologist at the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, aims to study the mechanisms involved in the emergence of vector-borne pathogens (or arboviruses). This major multidisciplinary project reflects the ‘One Health’ approach, i.e. the links between animal, plant and human health, as well as environmental problems.
The project will test the impact of human-induced changes on the emergence of these vector-borne viruses (including climate change and human encroachment on natural areas through resource exploitation and agricultural expansion). Comparing island and mainland environments will enable to verify hypotheses and assess risks associated with entomological (insect-related) or human factors. The anticipated results of the project could also help to develop strategies and tools to prevent the risks of emergence of these viruses, and thus prevent certain epidemics.
An international collaboration to combat emerging diseases
The AMAZED project covers several overseas territories (French Guiana, the Caribbean, the South Pacific) as well as Cameroon and mainland France. It brings together four member institutes of the Pasteur Network, three of which are in the French overseas territories:
- the Institut Pasteur,
- the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane,
- the Institut Pasteur de la Guadeloupe, and
- the Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie.
The AMAZED project also brings together external partners: ANSES, CNRS, IRD and the French School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP).
In Paris, the consortium includes five Institut Pasteur research units:
- the Biomics platform/Marc Monot,
- the Viruses and RNA Interference Unit/Carla Saleh,
- the Pathogen Discovery Laboratory/Nolwenn Dheilly,
- the Laboratory for Urgent Response to Biological Threats/Jean-Claude Manuguerra,
- the Arboviruses and Insect Vectors Unit/Anna-Bella Failloux.
Pooling resources to study transmission by insect vectors
The AMAZED project will benefit from:
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Standardized protocols and tools that guarantee reproducible results when studying different environments with respect to the transformation of rural areas into urban ones.
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State-of-the-art technologies linked to the infrastructures of partner organizations.
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Insect vectors are studied in French containment level 3 (P3/BSL3) insectariums in Latin America, the Caribbean, the South Pacific region and mainland France.
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In parallel, several teams with experience in deep sequencing and virology are providing expertise in the screening of known and unknown arboviruses. Combined with serological studies in humans and animals, this enables us to assess the risk of emergence more accurately.
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The consortium brings together all the expertise needed to operate in different territories in order to access and study varied and contrasting vector transmission conditions and offer a broad overview of the potential emergence of arboviruses.