Global warming and planetary health: An open letter to the WHO from scientific and indigenous people urging for paleo-microbiology studies

P Charlier; G Héry-Arnaud; Y Coppens; J Malaurie; V Hoang-Oppermann; P Deps; J B Kenmogne; M Foka; E Josué; X E Schor; L Brun; M Kepanga; N Evanty; E Julia; S Bose; L Iaukea; J Romero Epiayu; S Deo; A Augias; J M Claverie

doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104284

Global warming and planetary health: An open letter to the WHO from scientific and indigenous people urging for paleo-microbiology studies

Infect Genet Evol. 2020 Aug:82:104284. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104284. Epub 2020 Mar 10.

Authors

P Charlier¹, G Héry-Arnaud², Y Coppens³, J Malaurie⁴, V Hoang-Oppermann⁵, P Deps⁶, J B Kenmogne⁷, M Foka⁸, E Josué⁹, X E Schor¹⁰, L Brun¹¹, M Kepanga¹², N Evanty¹³, E Julia¹⁴, S Bose¹⁵, L Iaukea¹⁶, J Romero Epiayu¹⁷, S Deo¹⁸, A Augias¹⁸, J M Claverie¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; Department of Research and High Education, Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 222 rue de l'Université, 75007 Paris, France. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Microbiology, University Hospital, Brest, France; INSERM UMR1078 Unit, "Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnologies", Microbiota group, Faculty of Medicine, UBO, Brest, France.
³ Collège de France, Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris, France.
⁴ Centre d'Études Arctiques, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 105 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris, France.
⁵ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; University Hospital, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
⁶ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; Post-graduate Program on Infectious Disease, Federal University of Espirito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil.
⁷ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; Université Evangélique du Cameroun, Bafoussam, Cameroon; CIPCRE, Bafoussam, Cameroon.
⁸ CIPCRE, Bafoussam, Cameroon.
⁹ Bureau National d'Ethnologie, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
¹⁰ Hmong/Miao Peoples, China.
¹¹ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France; University Hospital, Parakou, Bénin.
¹² Huli Tribe, Highlands, Papua New Guinea.
¹³ Indigenous People from Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia.
¹⁴ Fundacion Sur Futuro, avenue 27 de Febrero esq Abrahan Lincoln Unicentro Plaza, 3er nivel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
¹⁵ Department of Geography, Central University of Assam (Diphu campus), 15/1 Dayananda road, A-zone Steel township, Durgapur, West Bengal, 713204, India.
¹⁶ University of Hawaii, Manoa, Maui, 702 9(th) avenue Honolulu, HI 96816 OR, p/o box 161156, Honolulu, HI, USA.
¹⁷ Wayuu People, La Guarija, Colombia.
¹⁸ Paris-Saclay University (UVSQ), Laboratory of Anthropology, Archaeology & Biology (LAAB), 2 avenue de la Source de la Bièvre, 78180 Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France.
¹⁹ Aix Marseille University, CNRS, (IGS-UMR 7256), Marseille F-13288, France.

PMID: 32169674
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104284

Abstract

This article, written by a collective of international researchers and worldwide representatives of indigenous populations, is an open letter to the WHO, based on the latest elements from the scientific literature, and the latest climatological data. It takes stock of the health consequences of global warming, and urges research organizations to take an interest in infectious agents formerly stored in the layers of ground (frozen or not) and now mobilized, then released from a distance.

Keywords: Global health; Medical anthropology; Microbiology; Planetary health.

MeSH terms

Cadaver
Epidemics
Global Health*
Global Warming*
Humans
Indigenous Peoples*
Permafrost
Soil Microbiology*
World Health Organization