Arboviruses, such as yellow fever, dengue and Zika viruses pose major threats to global health, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Over the next century, these diseases are predicted to affect an additional one billion people worldwide as a result of climate change and shifting human and animal movement patterns. Research at the A.P.E. Health Group addresses critical data gaps on how these viruses spread in Africa and how factors like existing population-level immunity and cross-reactivity influence severity of disease and likelihood of transmission.

 

Our lab is investigating dengue and Zika virus dynamics among vector hosts (mosquitoes), non-human primates, and people in high risk areas of virus emergence. Our core partner is the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), a global leader in arboviruses research and surveillance. We are researching sylvatic vector-born disease transmission that can drive virus spillover events, along with the risks of sustained transmission to wildlife, domestic animals and people. 

 

Together with UVRI and Gorilla Doctors, we will be working with local communities and health centers to conduct surveillance for vector-borne viral pathogens, targeting forested areas to sample non-human primates (and potentially other wildlife) along with sylvatic mosquitoes near sites of known human arbovirus circulation. This project is part of the Arbovirus Co-circulation Research Consortium (ARCC), with parallel study sites in Mexico led by the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, University of California, Irvine, University College London and the University of Central Florida.

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This work was made possible with support from the Wellcome Trust and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Center for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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