The Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) is a biomedical research center in
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
. The institute is part of the world-wide
Pasteur Institute
The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...
, which co-manages the IPD with the
Senegalese government
Politics in Senegal takes place within the framework of a presidential democratic republic. The President of Senegal is the head of state and government. Executive power in Senegal is concentrated in the president's hands.
While legislative p ...
.
Description
In 1896
Émile Marchoux
Émile Marchoux (24 March 1862 - 19 August 1943) was a French physician and biologist born in Saint-Amant-de-Boixe, Charente.
He studied medicine in Paris, defending his doctorate with a dissertation titled ''Histoire des épidémies de fièvre ...
, a French physician and microbiologist who had studied under
Louis Pasteur
Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...
, founded a microbiological laboratory in
Saint-Louis, then the capital of
French Colonial Senegal. In 1913 the facility was moved to Dakar which had become the new capital in 1902.
After French Colonial Senegal, the institute continued its operations into the era of Senegalese independence. The IPD is primarily focused on the study of
microbiology
Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...
and
virology
Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...
, specifically
arbovirus
Arbovirus is an informal name for any virus that is transmitted by arthropod vectors. The term ''arbovirus'' is a portmanteau word (''ar''thropod-''bo''rne ''virus''). ''Tibovirus'' (''ti''ck-''bo''rne ''virus'') is sometimes used to more spe ...
;
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
was first isolated in Africa at the institute, and the first vaccine for the disease was discovered at the IPD.
Following the
outbreak and spread of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the institute began to work on developing a cost-effective means of testing for
coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...
. Furthermore, in July 2021 an agreement was reached between Senegal, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
,
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...
, France, Germany and Belgium to build a large-scale manufacturing facility at the Pasteur Institute for the production of vaccines against COVID-19 and other endemic diseases.
Senegal and Team Europe to set up Covid-19 vaccine production facility.
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See also
* Institut Pasteur de Dalat
References
*Dakar
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