Descrizione del progetto
Il contributo del degrado degli ecosistemi e della perdita di biodiversità alla diffusione di malattie zoonotiche
Secondo quanto sinora ipotizzato, il degrado degli ecosistemi e la perdita di biodiversità causati dall’interferenza umana contribuiscano all’emergere delle patologie zoonotiche; tuttavia, ancora non è chiaro come e in che misura tale perdita contribuisca al rischio di insorgenza delle zoonosi. Concentrandosi sui punti caldi della biodiversità tropicale e sulle regioni temperate colpite dalla deforestazione e dai relativi cambiamenti nell’uso del suolo, il progetto ZOE, finanziato dall’UE, analizzerà le connessioni esistenti tra degrado degli ecosistemi, perdita di biodiversità ed emergere di malattie zoonotiche. ZOE condurrà ricerche innovative e stabilirà collaborazioni nell’ambito di un consorzio che comprende sette paesi dell’UE e quattro americani. I ricercatori utilizzeranno tecnologie all’avanguardia e adotteranno un approccio basato sul coinvolgimento della comunità per comprendere le connessioni oggetto di studio, proponendo inoltre mezzi volti a mitigare i rischi crescenti per la salute ambientale e il benessere umano.
Obiettivo
Ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss may facilitate the emergence of zoonotic diseases. The 4-year ZOE project will analyze the links between landcover and land use changes in tropical biodiversity hot-spots facing loss of primary forest and biodiversity and in temperate regions that have undergone ecosystem degradation and deforestation over historical timescales. In areas experiencing different levels of ecosystem degradation, biodiversity assessments will be based on remote sensing-based GIS analysis of landscape structures, geobotanic plant mapping, and targeted trapping of rodents, ticks, and mosquitoes, as prototypic reservoirs and vectors of zoonotic diseases (macro-organism scale). Host- and soil-associated microbiome and virome high-throughput sequencing will be combined with assessment of human exposure to prototypic zoonotic pathogens, using high-throughput serological analyses (microbiological scale). ZOE will link with local communities and stakeholders to address perceived land use and land cover changes, disease occurrence, coping strategies, and risk behaviour. Results will be synthesized in modelling and risk mapping frameworks linking biodiversity loss and zoonotic disease risks and tested in forecasting scenarios to feed into cost-efficient monitoring schemes and early warning systems. An online knowledge platform will be created to link all relevant stakeholders of the biodiversity-health nexus, including other EU-funded consortia, national and supranational organizations stakeholders, local communities, and the public. A joint stakeholder conference will be organized, and community engagement workshops will specifically co-create and advance knowledge in local communities involved in ZOE. The ZOE project is proposed by an interdisciplinary consortium with expertise in geography, geobotanics, ecology, virology, immunology, epidemiology, sociology, psychology, anthropology and science dissemination from 7 EU and 4 American countries.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesphysical geographycartographygeographic information systems
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirology
- social sciencespsychologysocial psychology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthepidemiologyzoonosis
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinatore
10117 Berlin
Germania