Description
Les mercredis de la Connaissance conference organised by Les Amis du Laboratoire Arago
8.30pm, Alain Guille Amphitheatre at the Observatoire Océanologique Banyuls, free admission.
"Using army ants of the genus Dorylus to monitor zoonoses in tropical forests: thoughts on the concept of sentinels" by Eric Leroy.
Summary:
The epidemics that have occurred in tropical regions in recent years have been caused by new viruses, revealing our profound ignorance of the viral diversity present in these ecosystems. To reduce this ignorance, we propose to use army ants of the genus Dorylus as an indirect strategy for sampling wildlife. These highly voracious ants consume large quantities of all kinds of living things, including vertebrate and invertebrate animals, insects and plants. As part of a study carried out in 2023, 209 army ants were collected on tracks in north-eastern Gabon. Using viral metagenomic techniques, we detected almost 500,000 genetic sequences, 46,377 (10.5%) of which belonged to bacterial, plant, invertebrate and vertebrate viruses, demonstrating the capacity of these ants to accumulate a prodigious quantity of viruses from their prey. Of these viral sequences, only 22,406 (48.3%) were associated with known viruses. These ants could therefore prove invaluable in exploring the virome of tropical ecosystems and setting up an innovative strategy for monitoring viral zoonoses in an environment where outbreaks are frequent.
Eric Leroy's bio:
I am a virologist specialising in viral zoonoses and hold a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, a doctorate in immunology from Sorbonne University and a habilitation to direct research (HDR) in virology from Sorbonne University. I am currently a research director of exceptional rank at the TransVIHMI International Research Unit, University of Montpellier-IRD-Inserm, a research unit based in Montpellier which conducts integrative and transdisciplinary research at the animal-human-environment interface to understand the mechanisms of emergence and dissemination of pathogens in ecosystems. I have worked for over 20 years in Gabon and several other Central African countries, where I have always endeavoured to combine research work with public health initiatives in the field of infectious disease diagnosis, as well as training activities, both through participation in university courses and by supervising theses and Master's theses. Initially, my work focused mainly on the Ebola virus, but later extended to other viral haemorrhagic fevers that are rife on the African continent, emerging viral diseases, highly pathogenic viral infections and, more generally, all viral diseases posing a public health risk to the populations of Central Africa. Based on a multi-disciplinary 'One Health' approach that has been in place for over 30 years, my research programme focuses on the entire chain of events that ultimately lead to the emergence of a virus in humans, from its natural source to its spread within populations. My scientific approach is based on elucidating the natural cycles of viruses in their environment, determining the methods of exposure and mechanisms of contamination of humans, and exploring the methods that govern inter-species transfers and adaptation to a new host. All my work on viral haemorrhagic fevers, arboviroses and emerging viral diseases has led to the publication of 290 scientific articles and earned me the Christophe Mérieux Prize in 2009, one of the five major prizes awarded by the Institut de France, and the Grand Prix d'Honneur de la Recherche Scientifique in Gabon. Finally, I directed an international research institute in Gabon, the Franceville International Medical Research Centre between 2012 and 2018, and a WHO regional reference centre for viral haemorrhagic fevers and arboviroses in Gabon between 2001 and 2018.