Publishing data to support the fight against human vector-borne diseases

SCOTT C EDMUNDS; FOQUE F; COPAS K.A; RABINOVICH, J. E; MARTI, GA; DMITRY SCHIGEL

GigaScience

Oxford University Press

Año: 2022

2047-217X

Vector-borne diseases are responsible formore than 17% of human cases of infectious diseases. Inmost situations, effective control of debilitating and deadly vector-bone diseases (VBDs), such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellowfever, Zika and Chagas requires upto- date, robust and omprehensive information on the presence, diversity, ecology, bionomics and geographic spread of the organismsthat carry and transmit the infectious agents. Huge gaps exist in the information related to these vectors, creating an essential need for campaigns to mobilise and share data. The publication of data papers is an effective tool for overcoming this challenge. These peer-reviewed articles provide scholarly credit for researcherswhose vitalwork of assembling and publishingwell-described,properlyformatted datasets often fails to receive appropriate recognition. To address this, GigaScience’s sister journal GigaByte partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to publish a series of data papers, with support from the Special Programme forResearch and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), hosted by theWorld Health Organisation (WHO). Here we outline the initial results of this targeted approach to sharing data and describe its importance for controlling VBDs and improving public health.