Biodiversity and emerging viruses in the Indian Ocean: selection of natural drug candidates to fight the Chikungunya virus.

The recent and sudden emergence of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infections in the Indian Ocean islands has created a serious public health problem in the region, and shows us the urgent need for an integrated approach to tackle the disease. Currently, there is no selective antiviral drug available for the treatment or prevention of infection with this highly pathogenic virus. Plant biodiversity of the Indian Ocean islands offers an untapped reservoir for the identification of new antiviral molecules. Identifying such molecules requires (i) access to phytoresources in the region, together with a strong expertise for processing and characterization of plants and plant extracts as well as pharmaco-ethnological knowledge, (ii) access to technologies and expertise allowing the discovery of molecules with selective antiviral activity. The overall objective of this project is to discover, characterize and eventually design selective antiviral compounds derived from the vast Indian Ocean plant biodiversity and capable of fighting emerging viral diseases such as Chikungunya.

Keywords:Emerging viruses, Biodiversity, Indian Ocean, Chikungunya virus

Disciplines:Microbiology, Systems biology, Laboratory medicine