Viral spillover & One Health lab – Projects

SIMBA – Spillover, surveillance, monitoring and zoonotic potential analysis of Influenza A virus in Migratory birds, Bats and other mAmmals

Lead researcher: Angélica Cristine G. de Almeida Campos

The spillover potential of several viruses, as Flu A, has concerned our society in recent decades because of their potential risk to emerge and reemerge suddenly and silently. These events are mainly associated with pathogenic virus transmission between wild animals, domesticated animals, and humans and causing significantly impacting human populations as recently occurred in COVID-19. The influenza virus is responsible every year for an enormous number of human infection disease cases worldwide and was the etiologic agent of the most significant pandemic in the 20th Century. Currently, the cases of high pathogenic avian Influenza virus H5 (HPAIV) in aquatic birds (penguins and pelicans) and aquatic mammals such as sea lions and dolphins have increased the concern regarding a new flu pandemic, leading to the intensification of influenza virus surveillance once the last event (2020-2023) are considered the most important and biggest than previous waves.

In a One Health approach, in different wild and domestic hosts, seeking to understand the risk of zoonotic potential, the SIMBA group aim of evaluating the spillover of the Influenza A virus by monitoring and active surveillance, employing different methodologies such as collecting swab and blood samples in the field, viral screening with molecular tests, sequencing of detected viruses followed by phylogenetic analyses and virus isolation.

Throughout the project’s development, the expected results will be:

1. a) Implementation at the Institut Pasteur of São Paulo of a research group with students’ formation and focusing on the rapid identification of “potential emergent influenza viruses” in distinct interfaces of human exposure;
2. b) Viral characterization and phylogenetic analysis of identified Influenza viruses in wild animals, livestock animals during the study and the virus circulation in distinct hosts.
3. c) Actualization of the host influenza list of species in distinct ecological environments and
4. d) Correlation analysis between host species (bats, aquatic mammals, livestock animals and migratory birds), ecological factors and Influenza virus diversity and prevalence.