The conditions of emergence. Co-constructing Crimean-Congo Hemmoragic Fever as a public health issue in Romania

As part of the TICKRISK project, this postdoctoral project will focus on the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Romania, and in particular the Tulcea region near the Danube delta. This is a disease caused by tick bites infected with the virus of the same name (CCHFV) which belongs to the Nairovirus family. Considered endemic in the eastern part of Europe, its recent expansion in animal populations is seen as the consequence of several factors such as climate change (which, through the increase in average temperature, causes an expansion of the living areas of ticks), avian migrations or the trade in possibly infected animals. However, unlike countries as Bulgaria, Turkey or Ukraine where the presence of vectors (infected ticks) is proven and cases of haemorrhagic fever have been reported in humans, Romania is distinguished by an absence of reported cases despite the presence of the virus in animals. The Danube Delta, an important staging area for potential tick-carrying migratory birds, and especially the Tulcea region, are among the areas where the presence of the virus in small ruminants has been established by tick collection from them (sheep, goats) or by serological technique. This region and its wetlands also appear important through the prevalence of a particular species of tick (Rhipicephalus rossicus) that can be found in particular on domestic dogs, as well as the risk of zoonoses through increased contact with humans. This proven circulation within wild animals, domestic animals or livestock raises legitimate questions about the possibilities and capacity of this vector to make a species jump and the various factors that could contribute to this (such as the environmental transformations resulting from the agricultural policies of the Soviet era or the development of tourism in the Danube delta). This post-doctoral project will mobilise the tools of political science and anthropology to analyse the conditions of knowledge construction on the virus as well as its circulation between different spheres (political, medical, scientific) and at different scales (European, national and local). This work will also investigate the forms that local translations of this knowledge take and whether it gives rise to local experiences of the disease and to particular control strategies. Thus, the project aims to question the socio-political conditions that allow the emergence of CCHFV, i.e. how the issue of CCHFV, whose endemicity is known, is constructed as a potential public health problem and a possible risk for a part of the European continent? This work will articulate different scales of analysis in order to study the interplay of actors who participate in the emergence of the epidemic and the issues involved in the production of knowledge and ignorance. But also the places where institutional policies are produced and their translations at the microsocial and intimate levels. To perform this, the study will be based on a qualitative methodology with a significant ethnographic component. It will combine observations, interviews and a prolonged presence in the field with the various actors involved in the construction of scientific evidence (veterinarians, environmental activists, bird watchers), the formulation and implementation of health policies (local health and veterinary officials attached to the municipalities of Tulcea county, elected officials and civil servants), but also with the users or targets of these same policies (breeders, shepherds, slaughterhouse employees, tourists). The project is scheduled for 2 years (with a possible one-year extension demand). It is also planned to organize a symposium or workshops in France and with Romanian local teams to value the results of the study. We also think to build up restitutions and policy feedback sessions with the actors met (political, institutional, medical, associative).