Scientists track viruses that could cause new pandemics in the Mayan jungle

It’s getting dark in mexican jungle Yucatán, where veterinarian Omar Garcia takes the bat’s blood and fluids, which will be analyzed to monitor zoonoses, diseases transmitted from animals to humans.

The last word has not yet been said about the origin COVID-19but this Franco-Mexican project aims to find viruses that can cross the barrier of wild species and reach humans in tropical climates to help counter new pandemics.

The winged mammal, on the radar of the global scientific community as a possible carrier of the coronavirus, remains motionless, docile, showing its sharp fangs as if smiling, before being let go by vector-borne diseases specialist Garcia.

Scientists from different fields from the Institute for Development Research (IRD) of France and the state National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have been collaborating since 2017 on this research, which includes a state-of-the-art laboratory called El Dorado in Mérida, the state capital. state of Yucatan (east).

Viruses transmitted from animals to humans

The specific goal is to find out how the virus that circulate among animals, birds, rodents, droppings or mosquitoes have the potential to enter the human body, explains IRD’s Audrey Arnal.

“It’s a zoonosis (…), understanding what the consequences of human contact with wildlife might be, and then understanding what the next epidemic might be that could come out of nature,” says the infectious disease specialist AFP.

Scientists take samples of all kinds animals rich ecosystem of this tropical jungle, where they identified 61 mosquito species.

“We have a lot of questions” to “try to complete the history of the transmission cycle” of viruses, explains Maria José Tolsa, a biologist from UNAMwho, after ten years of research, finally feels that his efforts are appreciated.

“Now the importance of our work has been revealed, that the pandemic has serious consequences for health, the economy. How much does a pandemic cost and how much does prevention cost?” he muses amid the lowing of cattle in the municipality’s countryside. Tsukakab.

Why Yucatan?

The study could have been done in any jungle area in the world, but Yucatan was chosen because rapid deforestation has made it “a highly emblematic region in terms of zoonotic emergency risks,” says Benjamin Roche of the IRD and co-director of El Dorado. .

Most transmission occurs in tropical regions, and it is estimated that between 500,000 and 800,000 virus can affect humans, adds a French specialist in ecology and evolutionary biology.

The risks are also increasing with the expansion of agricultural borders and tourism, which increase contact between animals and humans, the researchers said.

Thousands of trees have been cut down on the peninsula Yucatan build mayan trainof 1,554 km and that it will be operational in December, but the government says it will make up for this loss with a reforestation program and the creation of the second largest rainforest reserve in the world after Amazon.

The key is to strike a balance between man and nature, explains Arnal. “We also cannot say that we will make a mountain out of the peninsula. The population must live, eat, develop their economy.

The study is conducted in 12 settlements of the three states that make up the peninsula.

“In birds, we found species that have been identified as reservoirs for West Nile virus, or birds that are reservoirs for influenza,” explains Rosa Elena Sarmiento from the virology laboratory at the UNAM Veterinary School.

In December last year, almost two million farm birds were affected by flu, virus which the researchers were unable to identify in the species they studied.

Field work begins at dawn with the installation of a dozen thin nets, similar to those used for volleyball, in which birds are caught, and bats and even owls fall at dusk.

Once in the traps, they take samples of blood, fluid and ectoparasites (if they carry them); Scientists identify the animal, measure it, and record the data. Before releasing them, they check that they are in good condition.

And then to the laboratory, where the material is analyzed.

“DNA is a great indicator (…), with the blood of a mosquito we can determine which species or which animal was eaten,” explains Arnal.

Blood samples will also be taken from residents to determine if they are carriers of the animal-derived virus.

AFP