Project Goals
VEpiNet project has several important goals to achieve. As vector borne disease emergence is a complex and dynamic process, the interactions between multiple disciplines and responsible health and environmental authorities are needed for an effective early warning, surveillance and control of vectors and the diseases they transmit. To solve this problem interactions between multiple scientific disciplines are required. For those reasons Project will be implemented in several phases.
During the first phase of the VEpiNet Project, the aim will be formation of the national and international teams composed of scientists from different scientific areas: epidemiology, ecology and biology. The main purpose will be identification of disease vector populations and diseases they transmit in all of the member countries. At this moment the focus will be bridging the gap between entomologists and public health professionals and facilitation of the communication between them.
Phase I summary:
- Formation of national and international teams of scientists and public health professionals
- Enabling flow of epidemiological information
- Enabling flow of information related to ecology of disease vectors
- Identification of vector species in member countries
- Identification of vector borne diseases in member countries
In the next phase of this Project monitoring methods and vector control will be coordinated among member countries and permanent monitoring methods will be incorporated. At the end of the second phase of the Project VEpiNet will be established. The main purpose of this network will be integration of the data from different research from all the member countries into unique data network. Data from VEpiNet will enable response to the threats posed by new and emerging vector diseases.
Phase II summary:
- Surveillance and early detection of disease vectors and vector-borne diseases
- Establishment of coordinated vector control among member countries
- Establishment of VEpiNet
Until now more than thirty scientists from participant countries joined the project. At this introductory phase Project aims mainly to research mosquito and tick-borne diseases, however we are also interested to cooperate with experts whose research is focused on other vector species.
Climate change and malaria, scenario for 2050. With climate conditions changing in the future, due to increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, conditions for pests also change. The primary Malaria agent, the falciparum malaria parasite, will be able to spread into new areas, as displayed in this map, by 2050 using the Hadley CM2 high scenario. Other areas, not displayed in the map, will be uninhabitable by the parasite, and thus free of the pest. (http://maps.grida.no/)
The protozoa that cause malaria are carried by the Anopheles mosquito, but humans are the intermediate host. This means that both infected humans and infected mosquitoes are needed to continue the life cycle of the organism. The disease therefore can be controlled if Anopheles mosquito populations are eradicated and humans are not carrying the protozoa in their blood. (http://www. infohealthz.org)