Abstract
Recently Brazil has been affected by unexpected arbovirus epidemics of Zika, Chikungunya, dengue and Yellow fever viruses. The huge economic burden of Zika (R$ 1 billion) and the widespread presence of mosquito vectors in Brazil highlights the need for accurate predictions of disease spread, particularly in large, densely populated regions. This UK-Brazil Partnership will enhance and expand an excellent existing collaboration, with the aim of anticipating and preventing future arbovirus epidemics in Brazil. Our research questions include: 1) What arboviruses circulate in human, mosquito and reservoir populations in Brazil? 2) Where and how do arboviruses persist during non-epidemic periods? 3) What are the implications of genetic diversity of circulating arboviruses? 4) What factors convert a novel introduction into human populations into an epidemic, and how best to respond? Active surveillance in vectors and reservoirs will be combined with seroprevalence surveys in blood donors to characterise arboviral dynamics, genomics, transmission and immunity. Novel portable genome sequencing protocols and real-time epidemiological analyses will be undertaken for relevant arboviruses. Unifying information from genomics and epidemiology will strengthen the evidence base for public health actions and strength the capacity of Brazilian health system in response to emerging arboviral diseases. (AU)
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