SOUND - Socio-ecologic investigation of orthobunyaviruses as neglected causes of disease in Africa

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Ulrike Beisel; Professor Dr. Jan Felix Drexler
• Subject Area: Virology ; Empirical Social Research ; Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology ; Human Geography ; Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521734108

Over 25% of known human infectious diseases are vector-borne, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Lack of diagnostic tools and a large diversity of unknown pathogens in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) prompts clinical ascription of Dengue fever and Malaria in the majority of cases, challenging adequate patient treatment and outbreak containment. Orthobunyaviruses (family Peribunyaviridae, genus Orthobunyavirus) comprise a large and diverse group of emerging and re-emerging arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) that cause severe disease in humans and livestock globally. Symptoms of orthobunyavirus-mediated disease are incompletely understood, but can include severe febrile illness, neurologic symptoms or hemorrhagic fever in humans, and congenital malformations and stillbirths in ruminants. Orthobunyaviruses have remained largely unstudied in SSA, highlighting the need for focused studies on orthobunyavirus epidemiology and diversity. Orthobunyaviruses are maintained in cycles between arthropods and different vertebrate hosts, and mosquito vectors are abundant in SSA. In determining how virus and host biology intersects with husbandry and treatment-seeking behavior, interdisciplinary collaboration between life and social sciences is crucial to systematically study the socio-ecology of arbovirus infections. This project aims to understand the impact of orthobunyaviruses as etiological agents in human disease, and the socio-ecological dynamics of orthobunyaviruses in Western Africa. To meet these aims, we will 1) investigate orthobunyavirus occurrence and its ecologic determinants in human and animal populations by detecting viral RNA and virus-specific antibodies in vectors, humans and animals in Benin and Togo; 2) characterize viral genomes to 3) enable evolutionary investigations and identify genomic determinants of viral pathogenicity, (4) determine vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, and understand the socio-ecological dynamics of how humans, vertebrate hosts and mosquitos come into contact with each other, and which factors may lead to orthobunyavirus transmission; 5) characterize the natural history of orthobunyavirus infection in humans, and 6) explore local medical and behavioral strategies to cope with arboviral disease. By these means, the SOUND project will broaden the current knowledge of emerging arboviral infections and its long-term impact extends into sensitive surveillance methods and outbreak preparedness not only in Benin and Togo, but also the surrounding countries. This proposal joins two German and three African PIs that are synergistic in their expertise and have years of collaborative track record. The project aims to establish mutually beneficial interdisciplinary partnerships to investigate emerging arboviruses in Western Africa, providing support and funding for young African scientists in their professional careers to contribute to the research capacity building in their home countries.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Benin, Togo
• International Co-Applicant: Professor Dr. Didier Koumavi Ekouevi