A Scientific Interest Group in response to health crises

Countries in the Indian Ocean Commission have experienced several major health crises in the 21st century: the Chikungunya epidemic has resulted in hundreds of thousands of cases; Rift Valley fever has had a devastating effect on animal and human health and also on the economy of Madagascar, the Comoros and Mayotte; the pandemic H1N1 virus has gone from man to pig, permanently infecting nearly 50% of farms in Reunion; and, more recently, foot-and-mouth has caused significant economic losses on the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues.

Several of these health crises have demonstrated the epidemiological interactions between animal and human populations in the Indian Ocean, prompting the creation of the Centre for Research and Surveillance on Emerging Diseases in the Indian Ocean (known by its French initials CRVOI), a Scientific Interest Group to study and control emerging diseases. It includes the State, CIRAD, CNRS, INRA, IRD, Inserm, Institute of Health Surveillance (InVS), Institut Pasteur, ANSES, the University of Reunion, south Reunion’s hospital group and departmental hospital centre and the regional physicians’ union, as well as the regional and departmental councils.

Several ASTRE staff work within the CRVOI on monitoring and research programmes notable for their regional, integrated, interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach (One Health).

High-level technological platform

The unit is hosted at Cyroi (Cyclotron Reunion Indian Ocean), a technological bio-sciences platform. It has access to the following:

• Bacteriology laboratory
• P3 laboratory for handling pathogenic viruses
• Molecular biology laboratory (extraction room, mixing room, loading room and PCR analysis room)