热博体育

Issues

Guadeloupe is a hotspot for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases at the global level. This is seen in the increasingly frequent infectious disease outbreaks affecting Guadeloupe (Chikungunya, Zika, banana black Sigatoka, citrus greening) or threatening it (porcine epidemic diarrhoea, coconut lethal yellowing, banana TR4 fusarium wilt, etc).

To address this situation, the Guadeloupean institutions involved in the MALIN consortium are working together to improve knowledge about the main infectious diseases concerning the territory, and their diagnosis, surveillance and control. The consortium’s research is also of interest to continental Europe, since some of these diseases have already spread or could soon spread there due to global changes.

Description

The MALIN project is built around three focal areas:

• Improving the detection and surveillance of infectious human, animal and plant diseases of interest to the territory, especially by developing innovative diagnosis tools, strengthening regional health monitoring networks and understanding the factors of emergence;
• Implementing integrated control methods for infectious agents of interest for the territory, by developing alternative, sustainable control methods based on new vaccine approaches, non-chemical vector control methods and action against genetic resistance;
• Stepping up communication with the public and end users, and training future local actors in research on infectiology.

Expected impacts

• Local capacities for diagnosis of and response to infectious outbreaks will have been strengthened.
• Diagnosis tools for emerging diseases will be available, as will shared mapping tools.
• The One Health approach will have been structured in Guadeloupe.
• Priority diseases will have been mapped.
• Analyses will be available on the risks of introduction of non-vector-borne infectious diseases or those transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks.
• Alternative solutions to chemical control methods against mosquitoes and against vectors of citrus greening disease will have been proposed, as well as strategies for genetic control of viral and fungal diseases in plants.
• New generation vaccines against heartwater will have been developed.