BIODIV-AFREID will investigate how biodiversity conditions (dis)favour transmissions of infectious agents from small mammals into human populations in African forests. It will:

• link changes in biodiversity to changes in communities of reservoirs and the pathogens they carry
  
• link differences in these reservoir communities to human health
  

The study will include a variety of viruses (Arenaviruses, Coronaviruses and Hantaviruses) but will have a specifc focus on two pathogens with an increasing frequency: Ebola and Monkeypox virus. Both are emerging from the African rainforest and cause major concerns for public health.