Charles Mérieux Center for Infectious Disease

At the initiative of Dr. Christophe Mérieux, the Mérieux Foundation began a technical assistance project in Madagascar in late 2006. Two years later, the decision was made to build the Charles Mérieux Center for Infectious Disease at the University of Antananarivo. The Center began offering health services in April 2010 and was inaugurated on April 14, 2011, during a ceremony attended by Alain and Chantal Mérieux.

Mission

The Charles Mérieux Center for Infectious Disease was created in 2010 to promote training and research on infectious diseases in Madagascar. One of its major objectives is to strengthen diagnostic tools to improve patient health.

The Center was named by the Ministry of Health in April 2017 as the “National Reference Laboratory for the Surveillance of Resistance to Antiliprosis”. It has also been heavily involved in the molecular diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Facilities

The Center's facilities cover a total surface of 540 m² with one area for training and one for research on infectious diseases. Students at the University of Antananarivo who have acquired the necessary skills can take advantage of the specially designed state-of-the-art facilities to pursue their studies and conduct scientific research on infectious diseases.

The laboratory area, with a surface area of 242 m², includes three BSL2+ containment rooms, a clean room for the preparation of molecular biology reagents, an amplification room, a bacteriology room and a room for electrophoresis.

Research activities

The Center’s research activities respond to public health issues by focusing specifically on infectious diseases, including neglected tropical diseases.
The projects currently conducted by the Center are

• Study of resistance to anti-leprosy drugs, genotyping, and molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium leprae (supported by the Mérieux Foundation)
• Post-exposure prophylaxis against leprosy in Comoros and Madagascar (PEOPLE-EDCTP)
• Pilot study for the evaluation of blood biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of treatment efficacy against leprosy: IGRA and HBHA (HILE- Mérieux Foundation)
• Chromomycosis and sporotrichosis: diagnosis, epidemiology and environmental monitoring (Mérieux Foundation)
• Rapid, easy and reliable diagnosis for the elimination of bilharzia in young children and mothers (freeBILy – EDCTP)
• Study on the reduction of bilharzia through aquaculture interventions in Madagascar (RESAMP – BNITM)
• New approach for the management of the chronic form of bilharzia: identification of adapted tools through the example of Madagascar (NAMASTE – BNITM)
• Surveillance of bacterial meningitis (supported by the Mérieux Foundation)
• Molecular diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2, detection of variants by PCR screening and sequencing (Mérieux Foundation)
• Evaluation and monitoring of the prevalence of Escherichia Coli producing extended spectrum beta-lactamases in humans, animals and the environment in Madagascar in the fight against AMR (TRIuMPH – JPI AMR – Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)
• CirCUS project (AVIESAN-SUD)
• Intensified treatment of tuberculosis with or without aspirin to reduce mortality from tuberculous meningitis in HIV-infected and uninfected patients (Intense-TBM – EDCTP)
• Observational study of acute febrile illness and sepsis in Madagascar (SEPSIS – Henri M. Jackson Foundation)
• Randomized open-label non-inferiority trial of the efficacy and safety of ciprofloxacin versus aminoglycosides + ciprofloxacin in the treatment of bubonic plague (IMASOY – welcome trust)
• Multicenter evaluation of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the spread of antimicrobial and biocide resistance from wastewater to the environment (COV-AMR) (Mérieux Foundation)

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