Eden: 400 Researchers asses the impact of environmental changes on emerging human diseases in Europe
April 2006
Launched by the CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), the IRD (French Research Institute for Development) and the Institut Pasteur, the EDEN project brings together over 400 researchers from 24 countries. This five-year programme seeks to comprehend and quantify the impact of environmental changes on the emergence or re-emergence of human diseases in Europe.
In recent years, diseases such as the West Nile Virus, malaria and Rift Valley Fever have (re)-emerged in Europe. Are these outbreaks linked to observed environmental changes? And if so, what is the impact of these changes? These are some of the questions raised by the EDEN project (Emerging Diseases in a changing European Environment). Launched at the end of 2004 by the CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development), the IRD (French Research Institute for Development) and the Institut Pasteur, the project responds to a request made by the European Commission. In the context of the 6th Framework Programme entitled “Global Changes and Ecosystems”, the three French institutes suggested assessing the impact of environmental change (including climate) on the transformation of geographical locations and on the dynamics of human diseases in Europe. Indeed, when ecological balances change, new modes of transmission appear that modify the hosts1, reservoirs2 and vectors3 involved in the spread of these diseases.
EDEN mobilises 48 partners from 24 countries (European and African) and over 400 researchers. Health and environmental specialists are working hand in hand to ensure that the project goes beyond simply describing the current context. The objective is to “understand the situation in order to anticipate future developments and provide monitoring and surveillance tools to the project’s potential users: national agencies and international bodies such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health4 (OIE)”, explains Stéphane de La Rocque, CIRAD researcher and the project’s coordinator. Developing countries have not been kept at arm’s length from the project, on the contrary. Their experience with diseases endemic to their region is essential. The models established by the EDEN will be of as much use in Europe as elsewhere. Furthermore, transversal studies on themes common to all of the diseases are also being carried out.
Six diseases were selected for research: tick-borne pathogens, rodent-borne viruses, Leishmaniasis, malaria, Rift Valley Fever and West Nile Fever. These diseases are representative of the main epidemiological processes involved in emergence.
An African platform based in Senegal focuses on Rift Valley Fever and West Nile Fever. The researchers hope to discover the different spatial transformations that modify the epidemiological conditions for the circulation of infectious agents. The multidisciplinary research network on the West Nile Virus comprises European partners working at different research sites, such as the Guadalquivir Delta (Spain), Rhone Delta/Camargue (France) and the swamps of Tuscany (Italy). The objectives of the Camargue research project are to identify and locate bird species that can potentially act as reservoirs, as well as mosquito vectors. Research is carried out in close collaboration with the CIRAD, the IRD, the EID-Méditerranée, the Paris Institut Pasteur and teams studying the same virus in Morocco and Senegal. A broad campaign to collect malaria data in the field has also begun. From Algeria to France and from Romania to Turkey, researchers will compare current and past malaria data to measure the potential risk of malaria’s re-emergence in Europe: this disease was rife in Europe until the middle of the twentieth century and persists to this day in the Mediterranean region.
The programme’s first year has enabled vast quantities of information to be gathered. “But our work is far from over. We will need to continue collecting data in the field for several months before we can establish the first indicators and develop the initial models”, warns Stéphane de La Rocque. Nonetheless, several encouraging factors have started to emerge, providing encouragement for this ambitious project.
Delphine Barrais
1 Living organism that is infected by a pathogen, generally providing it with “room and board”. For example, tapeworms can have a human or animal host. 2 Site where the infectious agent survives without harming the organism, particularly when the conditions for its transmission are unfavourable. The agent is placed back in circulation when the conditions again become favourable. For example, birds are reservoirs for the West Nile Fever. 3 Any organism involved in the transmission of epidemic diseases. For example, mosquitoes (anopheles) are vectors of malaria. 4 Epidemic that affects animals.
Websites:
Official EDEN project website: www.eden-fp6project.net/
IRD (French Research Institute for Development): www.ird.fr
CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development): www.cirad.fr
Institut Pasteur: www.pasteur.fr