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May 5, 2026

Diaspora distress: When geopolitical conflict follows immigrant workers into the office

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Amir Bahman Radnejad, Chair and Associate Professor of Innovation and Marketing, Mount Royal University

Rostam does not sleep through the night anymore. At 2 a.m., when his phone buzzes, he’s awake before the sound finishes. It might be his parents calling from Tehran, on a connection that is unreliable, sporadic and sometimes cut off mid-sentence. He has learned not to miss those calls, because the next one may not come for days.

Rostam is a pseudonym for a participant in our ongoing research study on diaspora workers, but his experience is one that many workers across Canada will recognize.

Rostam checks the news constantly, piecing together what is happening. Since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in late February, the conflict has escalated rapidly. By 4 a.m., he has been awake for two hours. This is hypervigilance: the body monitoring a threat it cannot act on and refusing to stand down.

When the call does come through, the relief is physical. They are alive. They speak carefully, partly to protect him and partly because the call may be monitored. He hears his father’s voice and thinks this could be the last time.

In the morning, he will go to work. He will sit in meetings, contribute to agendas and make sure his face doesn’t betray what he’s feeling — a competency that has always served him well.

He doesn’t speak about any of this at work. To talk about it risks being regarded as a representative of a country he has complicated feelings about or as importing politics into a space that doesn’t want them. So he says nothing. That silence is the problem.

The invisible cost at work

Decades of research have established that code-switching — the constant calibration of self-presentation across cultural contexts — carries a real psychological toll on workers. It can contribute to stress, anxiety, burnout and costly errors in judgment at work.

These impacts often remain invisible to employers until the damage has already been done to both the individual and the organization.

Diaspora employees who are struggling don’t signal it in ways that trigger organizational concern. They manage, but at considerable personal cost. These costs accumulate in ways that surface slowly and are almost always misattributed. Declining engagement is read as a shift in attitude, and withdrawal is interpreted as a personality change.

In some cases, employees do not withdraw at all. Instead, they bury themselves in work and appear by every visible metric to be thriving. Managers have no reason to look closer until the break happens.

This isn’t a problem that diversity, equity and inclusion programs can solve as they exist, because it’s not about inclusion or diversity. It’s a perceptual problem: leaders don’t see what diaspora employees are managing and therefore cannot respond to it.

A condition without a name

This challenge extends well beyond Canada’s Iranian community, which numbered approximately 200,000 people in the 2021 census. Many other diaspora communities, including Ukrainians, Palestinians, Sudanese, Afghans and Syrians, are navigating similar terrain.

A 2025 study found higher rates of severe depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among diaspora Tigrayans in Australia than among people inside the war zone itself.

People inside a conflict zone often suppress their own fear to protect family members living through it with them. Members of the diaspora, by contrast, often cannot meaningfully assist those in immediate danger, which creates a profound sense of helplessness. At the same time, those around them may not recognize the fear and distress they’re concealing.

Aitak Sorahi, an Iranian Canadian, tried to explain what she was living through to a reporter at The Canadian Press in April as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran unless it agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. She could not find the words. “I don’t even know how to describe my feeling,” she said, “because I don’t have a name for it.”

We propose one: diaspora distress, a framework emerging from our ongoing research and organizational practice.

Diaspora distress

Diaspora distress is the psychological burden carried by people living in one country while their homeland — and the family, friends and memories embedded there — are under active geopolitical threat. Often, this burden is compounded by the policies or rhetoric of their host country’s own government.

The feeling sits closest to grief, but the comparison only goes so far. Grief has a fixed point — a death, a diagnosis, a loss that has occurred and can be named. It comes with a recognized social script: people sit together and are able to share memories of the deceased. Diaspora distress offers no comparable ritual because the loss one is anticipating may or may not arrive.

In addition, diaspora communities are not monolithic. Outsiders often assume a shared solidarity, but geopolitical crises tend to deepen existing internal divisions about what intervention means, who is to blame and what liberation looks like. The people who should be each other’s community of grief often find themselves on opposite sides of an argument.

The result is that diaspora employees are frequently alone with this in every environment they occupy: at work, at home and within communities that might otherwise support them. That isolation is the specific nature of diaspora distress.

What organizations should do

Developing the capacity to recognize diaspora distress does not require expertise in geopolitics or new policy infrastructure. It requires language: the organizational decision to name what some employees are carrying as a recognized condition.

Institutional acknowledgement works differently than other supports because it removes the requirement that employees claim what they’re carrying. It gives them a name for what they have been living with.

In practice, this can take three forms: a leadership message acknowledging that some colleagues are carrying weight from events in their home regions; a line added to standard manager check-in prompts asking whether anything outside work is affecting employees; or an addition to existing employee assistance programs and benefits communications that names diaspora distress explicitly.

Rostam will open his phone again tonight at 2 a.m. In the morning, he will code-switch from the person who spent the night reading the news into the person his organization knows. What remains is whether his organization will adopt the language to see it, and whether his leaders will decide that seeing it is part of their job.

Amir Bahman Radnejad is affiliated with Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Brenda Nguyen is affiliated with the Strategic Capability Network.

– ref. Diaspora distress: When geopolitical conflict follows immigrant workers into the office – https://theconversation.com/diaspora-distress-when-geopolitical-conflict-follows-immigrant-workers-into-the-office-281411

May 5, 2026

Heat-resistant corals could help reefs adapt to climate change

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Whitney Isenhower, Journalism Fellow, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

As ocean temperatures rise, it’s difficult for many corals to thrive, but naturally occurring, heat-resistant corals can survive in warmer waters. (Unsplash/Rx’ Diaconu)

Austin Bowden-Kerby, a pioneer in coral reef conservation, spends many of his days gardening corals for reefs around Fiji and the Pacific. He grows corals in ocean nurseries. Once they’re healthy enough, he moves them to outer ocean areas with the hope they will replicate and grow.

“We’re looking at what Mother Nature would do on her own if she had 1,000 years to adapt,” said Bowden-Kerby, who founded the UNESCO-endorsed Reefs of Hope strategy. “We would have these kinds of things happening.”

Bowden-Kerby is one of several scientists trying to conserve, replicate and reproduce heat-resistant corals before climate change wipes them out.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said the world is experiencing a fourth global coral bleaching event. They’ve found that bleaching-level heat stress affected almost 85 per cent of the world’s coral reef area between 2023 and 2025.

Bleaching causes corals to lose their food source and, with it, their colour. Most corals survive in temperatures between 20 and 29 C. But as ocean temperatures rise, it’s difficult for many to thrive.

But naturally occurring, heat-resistant corals can survive in waters up to 36 C and potentially higher. They are usually found in warmer waters, like parts of the Pacific Ocean and the Persian Gulf. These corals are increasingly important as sea temperatures rise. So scientists are turning to them to help save declining reefs.

Heat-resistant corals

A colourful coral reef with fish swimming above — A coral reef in the Red Sea. Healthy corals nurture fish that feed communities and protect shores from floods and storms.
(Unsplash/Francesco Ungaro)

Corals reefs are extremely diverse places, with around 6,000 coral species worldwide. Reefs are home to more than 4,000 species and 25 per cent of global marine life. When healthy, corals nurture fish that feed communities, protect shores from floods and storms
and boost economies through tourism.

However, heatwaves have led to widespread coral bleaching and loss. When waters become too warm, corals expel the algae in their tissues that give them their colour. That causes corals to turn completely white.

Coral reefs and their ecosystems are also threatened by pollution, ocean acidification, coastal development and overfishing.

Christopher Cornwall, a lecturer in marine biology at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, co-authored a recent review that found some reefs can survive if corals become more heat-tolerant.

He told me there are multiple things to consider when conserving and replicating corals: restoring heat-resistant corals where it’s feasible, doing so at a large enough scale and maintaining coral diversity. Restored corals also must be able to survive, he added.

“We can’t just do coral restoration without thermally tolerant corals, because they’re just going to die the next time it gets too hot,” Cornwall said.

An infographic explaining coral bleaching. — An infographic explaining how heat and pollution affect the algae in coral, causing bleaching.
(NOAA)

Assisted evolution

“A lot of the research now is about, can you scale up restoration and how do you do it more effectively?” said Peter Mumby, a professor of coral reef ecology at the University of Queensland in Australia. “One of the key concerns is to make sure those corals are as tolerant of high temperature as possible.”

Breeding heat-tolerant corals is a form of assisted evolution. Humans intervene to speed up natural processes to help corals more quickly respond to and recover from their stressors, like heatwaves from climate change.

One recent study examining the possible success of assisted evolution interventions like breeding and selecting traits found these interventions can help corals become more tolerant to heatwaves, but they need “extremely strong selection.”

Liam Lachs co-authored that study. Lachs is a former postdoctoral research associate in the CORALASSIST lab, a team of scientists led by James Guest at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. Lachs specializes in coral reef ecosystems and researches coral in Palau, a Pacific island country where corals are surviving in warmer waters.

He told me variability within and among reefs and coral species must be considered when creating more heat-resistant coral, which makes replication complex. “Even within a single reef, there’s a range of tolerance levels,” he said.

Algae and bacteria

Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have found that some algae (Durusdinium), which symbiotically live in corals and provide them with food in exchange for housing and protection, can boost corals’ heat tolerance.

Madeleine van Oppen is a senior principal research scientist at AIMS. She co-authored a recent review about potentially introducing beneficial bacteria into corals to improve their heat tolerance.

Scientists are also exploring whether heat-tolerant corals should be planted across oceans — from the Indo-Pacific region to the Caribbean — and not just in nearby waters.

Van Oppen said new ventures ultimately need more research, and the real test of success is if something done in a lab works in the wild. “Field testing, I’d say, is the next big thing,” she said. “Finding out whether these interventions can enhance tolerance at ecologically relevant scales. Is it stable over time?”

AIMS researchers also found that heat tolerance could be passed down by interbreeding wild colonies of the same coral species. Heat-resistant coral species include some pocillopora and acropora.

If left unchecked, the sustained global temperature is on target to rise more than 1.5 C. Some evidence has shown that 70 to 90 per cent of tropical coral reefs could go extinct even if global warming is limited to 1.5 C.

Prior to the fourth event, the Earth already experienced three mass coral bleaching events over the last few decades. An El Niño is expected this year, bringing with it hotter sea surface temperatures, much like in 2024.

For all the efforts by scientists to save coral reefs and ensure heat resilience, nothing will keep corals healthy more than lowering the global temperature. “The lower we can get our greenhouse gas emissions, the more chance there will be that reefs will exist in the future,” said Cornwall.

Whitney Isenhower has an account with Democrats Abroad but is not an active member.

– ref. Heat-resistant corals could help reefs adapt to climate change – https://theconversation.com/heat-resistant-corals-could-help-reefs-adapt-to-climate-change-279508

May 5, 2026

Rapport Alloncle : vers un audiovisuel public aux ordres en cas de victoire du RN en 2027 ?

Source: The Conversation – in French – By Patrick Eveno, Professeur émérite en histoire des médias, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Après des mois d’auditions, le rapport parlementaire sur l’audiovisuel public a été publié ce mardi 5 mai. Que propose-t-il, à travers ses 69 recommandations ?

Le rapport de la commission d’enquête parlementaire sur la neutralité, le fonctionnement et le financement de l’audiovisuel public vient d’être publié. 551 pages pour « préparer les esprits à la privatisation de l’audiovisuel public », croit le président de la commission, Jérémie Patrier-Leitus (Horizons) en introduction d’un rapport qu’il dénonce. Il s’attaque à la forme, notamment à « l’hypermédiatisation » du rapporteur. Il dénombre ainsi 36 interviews, dont 11 à la radio et 10 à la presse écrite, données par Charles Alloncle tout au long de la commission. « Il a déplacé en partie notre travail hors du cadre solennel des auditions à l’Assemblée », juge-t-il et note « une utilisation massive des réseaux sociaux (plus de 330 posts sur X, 80 publications recensées sur Facebook, 90 sur Instagram…) », de la part du député, « allant même jusqu’à tweeter en temps réel pendant les auditions ».

Les idées fixes de Charles Alloncle, futur ministre de la culture d’un gouvernement RN ?

Au-delà du spectacle, qui permet à Charles-Henri Alloncle de se positionner comme futur ministre de la Culture en cas de victoire de Marine Le Pen ou de Jordan Bardella en 2027, il faut comprendre ce que propose ce rapport à travers ses 69 recommandations. Ce n’est pas facile, parce que, aussi bien dans les propositions que dans les analyses du rapporteur, la confusion et les procédés caricaturaux, le défaut d’ordonnancement thématique et les nombreuses incises qui ne concernent pas l’audiovisuel public brouillent les pistes ; sans doute de façon intentionnelle. La confusion est permanente entre déontologie journalistique et neutralité ou impartialité ; les procédés, sont le « name and shame », la désignation de cibles nominatives, des amalgames et de cas particuliers qui sont érigés en généralités ; les incises sur la formation des journalistes dans les écoles professionnelles qui n’accueillent pas de journalistes d’extrême droite (Christine Kelly, Laurence Ferrari, Geoffroy Lejeune, Pascal Praud, etc.) ou RSF qualifiée d’association militante.

Enfin, il y a quelques idées fixes, les salaires de France Télévisions (surtout celui de Delphine Ernotte, Recommandations 50 et 56) les animateurs-producteurs (surtout Nagui, Rec. 27 à 31) et les groupes de productions (surtout Mediawan), tout ce petit monde qui se « gaverait d’argent public ». Ceci sans tenir compte du contexte médiatique ou de l’histoire. Ainsi, le salaire de Delphine Ernotte est compris entre 332 000 (part fixe) et 400 000 euros bruts (avec la part variable), c’est évidemment un repoussoir pour nombre de Français ; mais on ne compare pas avec celui de Rodolphe Belmer, président de TF1, dont la part fixe est de 920 000 euros et la part variable d’un maximum de 1 220 000 euros, soit un total supérieur 2 millions (5 fois plus), ou même à celui de David Larramendy, président de M6 qui culmine à 1,5 million…

L’insistance mise sur les fournisseurs de FTV (producteurs et entreprises, Rec. 24 et 25) ne tient pas compte de l’histoire : depuis l’éclatement de l’ORTF en 1974, tout a été fait pour empêcher la production interne des chaînes, afin de ne pas renouveler l’expérience de la SFP (Société française de production) qui était un foyer de syndicalisme et de grèves. Ainsi en 1990, les décrets pris par Catherine Tasca pour répondre à la demande des producteurs privés, imposent à la télévision publique d’externaliser 95 % de sa production. Certes Delphine Ernotte a négocié la diminution de ce quota à 75 %, mais pour produire plus il faudrait embaucher, alors que l’on demande à FTV de faire des économies…

Confusion encore lorsque le rapporteur veut diminuer les sports à la télévision (Rec. 42), sous prétexte que la loi impose déjà la diffusion en clair de certains événements majeurs. C’est ignorer (ou faire semblant) que cela n’empêche pas de payer des droits pour le Tour de France ou la coupe de France, faute de quoi ces retransmissions seraient reprises par d’autres chaînes. FTV est une entreprise qui vit au sein d’un paysage concurrentiel.

En dehors des mesures d’économie préconisées, suppression de FTV Slash, de F4, de la radio Le Mouv, de l’absorption de F5 par F2, de l’INA par la BNF, de la fusion France Info radio et TV avec France 24, (Rec. 2, 44 à 49, 52 et 53), et regroupement de ce qui resterait dans une entreprise unique, que veut Charles Alloncle ? Certes, il s’inscrit dans un mouvement européen et américain des partis populistes, en Suisse (l’UDC propose une nouvelle votation), en Hongrie (Orban), en Tchéquie (Babis), en Italie (Meloni), au Royaume-Uni (Farage), aux USA (Trump), qui veulent la baisse des financements pour mieux contrôler politiquement les audiovisuels publics. Mais quelles en sont les modalités ?

Un audiovisuel aux ordres

Le but est de recréer non pas l’ORTF, trop puissante et trop indépendante (quoique…), mais la RTF qui exista de 1949 à 1964 et qui était aux ordres des gouvernements successifs de la 4^e et de la V^e République. Créer une Radio-Télévision Française rétrécie, corsetée, surveillée et fonctionnarisée, qui pourra ainsi devenir un instrument de propagande pour l’exécutif en cas de victoire en 2027. Alloncle préconise, sans le dire, des salariés fonctionnaires (Rec. 1 devoir de neutralité, Rec. 3 sanctions, Rec. 4 devoir de réserve), qui obéiraient aux ordres d’une pyramide dont le sommet serait le président de la République. Ce qui entre en contradiction avec les Rec. 54 et 55 qui demandent aux salariés une plus grande polyvalence et un salaire comprenant une part variable…

L’entreprise ne serait plus une ou plusieurs sociétés, mais une administration publique qui ne dit pas son nom mais qui appliquerait le code de la commande publique et des appels d’offres (Rec. 21 à 23). Ceci sans tenir compte de son environnement concurrentiel… Cette administration, dont le président serait nommé par le président de la République (Rec. 19), les autres membres de la hiérarchie par le ministre de la Culture (Rec. 20), ne serait plus gérée par ce dernier mais par le Secrétariat général du gouvernement, dépendant du premier ministre (Rec. 15). Bref, une mainmise totale de l’exécutif. Ce qui permettra accessoirement (ou principalement) de faire un ménage idéologique, comme le montre la Recommandation 5, qui propose de supprimer toute mention d’appartenance ethnique dans la promotion de la diversité imposée par la loi de 1986 à l’audiovisuel public.

Patrick Eveno ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Rapport Alloncle : vers un audiovisuel public aux ordres en cas de victoire du RN en 2027 ? – https://theconversation.com/rapport-alloncle-vers-un-audiovisuel-public-aux-ordres-en-cas-de-victoire-du-rn-en-2027-282197

May 5, 2026

After a year of Reform UK in local government, the cracks are starting to show

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Vladimir Bortun, Lecturer in Politics, University of Oxford

Reform UK is expected to expand its foothold in local government in England this week. More than 5,000 seats across 136 councils are being contested, making this one of the largest electoral tests in recent years. It builds on Reform’s breakthrough in 2025, when the party took control of ten local authorities – its first real experience of power.

For scholars of populism, this moment could be revealing. Years of research have focused heavily on the rhetoric of populism, its voter base, and the interaction between the two.

But far less attention has been paid to what populists actually do once in office. Where such research exists, it tends to focus on national governments, with only a small body examining local politics. Local government, however, is where political promises get a quick reality check.

The gap between Reform’s “pro-workers” rhetoric and its party elite’s relatively privileged and pro-business backgrounds has been noted. But the party’s first year in local government provides an opportunity to see whether the social groups it claims to represent also tend to benefit from its exercise of power.

While systematic data on the Reform-led councils is yet to be collected, their track record so far has revealed signs of where this party’s interests might lie – and of what a UK government led by Reform might look like.

Energy: big donors or local interests?

According to a recent report, climate commitments have been scaled back across Reform-run councils. Net-zero targets have been scrapped and climate language removed from policy documents. These decisions align with the party’s broader critique of climate policy as economically burdensome.

It also aligns with the party’s fossil fuel donors, who account for more than two-thirds of Reform’s financial backing. However, it does not necessarily align with the interests of the communities in the councils that it runs.

A good case in point is fracking. Despite its well-known risks to water and air quality, as well as concerns over earthquakes and warming effects, Reform’s leadership has endorsed fracking. The party has pledged to legalise it if it comes into government.

The country, however, is not as keen. According to the most recent polling, only 28% of people in Britain support fracking, compared to 46% opposing it. A survey last year found that nothing puts off Reform supporters more than the party’s ties to the fossil fuel industry. Farmers – 40% of whom now support Reform – have a longstanding scepticism about fracking due to its potential impact on their crops.

In fact, in two other Reform council areas – Lancashire and Scarborough, local representatives have broken from the national party line on fracking. This reflects a broader tension between the interests of its elite backers and those of its popular base.

Social care: when ‘populism’ meets the welfare state

Those contradictions also become visible in the field of social care. In Derbyshire, the Reform-led council’s plan to shut eight care homes was called a “betrayal of local people”. Similar plans in Lancashire entailed the closure of five public care homes as well as five day centres, with residents moved to the private sector.

What is striking is not just the direction of policy, but also the political reaction to it. The privatisation plans in Lancashire were eventually abandoned due to strong local opposition, which came not only from rival parties, but also from Reform grassroots members.

This underlines an insight often missing from populism research: the category of “ordinary people” is not a unified social group. It also indicates the unpopularity of an economic agenda that, with its emphasis on further deregulation, privatisation and tax cuts, might seem to be Thatcherism’s unfinished business.

Taxation: from promises to practice

Reform’s neoliberal outlook on the economy is reflected in the range of tax cuts pledged in its 2024 manifesto. Ahead of the local elections last year, several Reform candidates reiterated these pledges, vowing either to freeze or cut council tax.

The opposite has happened, though. As reported recently, nine Reform councils raised Band D council tax for 2026-27 by an average of 3.94%. And while that was lower than the overall average increase of 4.86%, it shows that – when confronted with budgetary constraints – Reform is willing to follow the same fiscal patterns as other mainstream parties. In other words, by increasing what is ultimately a regressive tax that disproportionately affects poorer households.

This dynamic echoes once again the discrepancy between the party’s “populist” image and its neoliberal, austerity-prone policy agenda.

council tax bill with credit cards and bank notes. — Householders in Reform-led councils may have been handed a council tax rise they were not expecting.
Yau Ming Low/Shutterstock

Reform’s track record in these areas of policymaking points to a broader conclusion. Much of the existing literature treats populism primarily as a discursive phenomenon – a way of framing politics in terms of “the people” versus “the elite”.

But Reform’s experience in local government shows that its actual politics might in fact tilt towards the interest of the latter. This is precisely where current research remains scant.

On the eve of a new round of local elections, Reform is likely to extend its presence across councils in England. But its first year in power already suggests that “the people” it claims to represent are not necessarily the same people who benefit from its rise to power.

Vladimir Bortun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. After a year of Reform UK in local government, the cracks are starting to show – https://theconversation.com/after-a-year-of-reform-uk-in-local-government-the-cracks-are-starting-to-show-282035

May 5, 2026

Quarantaine flottante sur le « Hondius » : la longue histoire des crises sanitaires en mer ?

Source: The Conversation – France in French (3) – By François Drémeaux, Enseignant-chercheur en histoire contemporaine, Université d’Angers

Le début d’épidémie, en cours à bord du MV Hondius, ce navire de croisière confronté à un foyer suspect d’infection à hantavirus et refoulé par les autorités du Cap-Vert, permet de souligner à la fois la difficulté et l’importance de la gestion des crises sanitaires en mer. Une perspective historique montre que les développements actuels reproduisent des schémas anciens.

Trois morts, cinq cas suspects, des passagers confinés en mer et un pays qui refuse l’accès à son port : l’épisode ravive des images récentes et d’autres plus lointaines ancrées dans l’imaginaire collectif, celles de navires en quarantaine au large, chargés de menaces invisibles.

À Marseille en 1720, la peste arrive par le Grand Saint-Antoine, de retour du Proche-Orient, et décime la ville au cours des mois qui suivent, notamment après de longues hésitations au sujet des mesures sanitaires à appliquer. Plus récemment, en 2020, le Diamond Princess, immobilisé au large du Japon avec ses 3 600 passagers au début de la pandémie de Covid-19, avait illustré la vulnérabilité des navires modernes face aux maladies infectieuses. Le Hondius s’inscrit dans cette lignée d’événements où la mer devient un espace d’isolement autant que de crise.

Navire de classe polaire, le *Hondius* appartient à la compagnie Oceanwide Expeditions. Il effectuait une croisière de quarante-six jours.
Oceanwide Expeditions

Alors que les épidémies peuvent désormais se transmettre rapidement par l’intermédiaire des transports aériens, un tel incident en mer donne l’impression de pouvoir arrêter le temps et de maîtriser la situation. Pour les épidémiologistes, ce sont des cas d’école qui permettent d’étudier la maladie au ralenti ; pour les historiennes et historiens, c’est aussi l’occasion de constater l’efficacité de pratiques anciennes. Car, en mer, la gestion des épidémies obéit à des logiques spécifiques.

Jusqu’au début du XX^e siècle, les longues traversées des paquebots constituaient des incubateurs potentiels pour les maladies infectieuses. Choléra, typhus ou fièvres diverses pouvaient se déclarer en cours de voyage et l’organisation sanitaire était alors pensée en conséquence. Selon les pays, des médecins embarqués deviennent peu à peu obligatoires à partir des années 1850, des protocoles d’isolement à bord sont mis en place et, surtout, les ports améliorent de rigoureux dispositifs de surveillance sanitaire. Les protocoles mis en place à Ellis Island à partir de 1892 pour contrôler les migrants européens qui débarquent aux États-Unis procèdent de cette logique.

Débarquement d’un malade, probablement fin XIXᵉ siècle.
Collection particulière

La santé maritime et les empires occidentaux

Le long des lignes maritimes qui forment les épines dorsales de la mondialisation au XIXᵉ siècle, d’abord en Méditerranée puis au fil des expansions impériales, les Européens organisent un complexe système de surveillance sanitaire. À la fois pour se prémunir de leurs voisins, pour affirmer leur domination sur certains pays – notamment colonisés –, mais aussi pour assurer une circulation fluide des produits et des passagers entre eux, la santé maritime devient un enjeu impérial. À l’approche des côtes, des médecins dits arraisonneurs montaient à bord pour évaluer l’état sanitaire du navire.

En cas de suspicion, l’embarcation se voyait refuser la patente qui lui permettait la libre pratique de son commerce, et les passagers étaient dirigés vers un lazaret, lieu de quarantaine souvent situé à l’écart des villes. Ces infrastructures formaient un maillage essentiel de la sécurité sanitaire internationale. Elles ont progressivement disparu après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, sous l’effet combiné des progrès médicaux et du basculement vers le transport aérien, bien plus rapide.

Visite médicale des émigrants au Havre (aujourd’hui en Seine-Maritime), avant l’embarquement, le 18 septembre 1909.
Collection French Lines & Compagnies, CC BY-NC-ND

Ce changement de temporalité a profondément modifié la dynamique des épidémies. Les périodes d’incubation des maladies n’ont pas changé, mais les durées de voyage, elles, se sont drastiquement réduites, y compris sur les navires de croisière dont l’objectif est souvent de multiplier les escales terrestres (un peu plus de sept jours en moyenne). Les croisières dites d’exploration dans des zones reculées et a fortiori les circuits dits de repositionnement d’un hémisphère à l’autre – comme celle que réalisait le Hondius jusqu’à présent – représentent précisément des exceptions par la multiplication du nombre de journées en mer, dans le cas présent entre Ushuaïa (Argentine) et Praia (Cap-Vert) et malgré des escales dans les îles de Géorgie du Sud et à Saint-Hélène.

En conséquence, les infections ont aujourd’hui davantage tendance à se manifester après le débarquement qu’en pleine mer. Le cas du Hondius, qui proposait ici un voyage de quarante-six jours, apparaît ainsi comme une résurgence d’un schéma ancien où la maladie se déclare à bord et impose une gestion en vase clos.

Les leçons de la pandémie de Covid-19

Il semble évident que des leçons ont été tirées de la pandémie de Covid-19. Lors de la quarantaine du Diamond Princess au Japon en 2020, le manque de clarté dans les informations données aux passagers et de formation du personnel ont été largement soulignés comme des facteurs aggravants. Le secteur de la croisière, en pleine expansion ces dernières années et représentant un marché de 37 millions d’individus en 2025, a vraisemblablement évolué sur le sujet puisque les personnels sont désormais formés et de stricts protocoles sont en place à bord.

Paradoxalement, avec les moyens de communication actuels, le huis clos du Hondius est rapidement devenu un événement global. Nos sociétés contemporaines, traumatisées par la pandémie de Covid-19, ont retrouvé des réflexes isolationnistes de précaution. À quelques encablures du port de Praia au Cap-Vert, le Hondius s’est vu refuser l’accès au territoire alors qu’un passager était déjà décédé à Saint-Hélène et deux autres avaient été évacués vers l’Afrique du Sud. Le directeur régional de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) pour l’Europe Hans Kluge a jugé que « le risque pour l’ensemble du public demeure faible. Il n’y a aucune raison de céder à la panique ni d’imposer des restrictions de voyage ». Il n’empêche que la couverture médiatique dont bénéficie l’événement depuis le début de la crise en dit long sur les peurs de propagation.

Au cours du XIX^e siècle, et notamment face aux grandes pandémies cholériques, des réglementations internationales ont été élaborées pour harmoniser les réponses et repousser les dangers sanitaires. En 1887, par exemple, les pays du cône sud-américain adoptent la convention de Rio pour protéger leurs relations commerciales internes et se prémunir des épidémies extracontinentales. Ces réglementations sanitaires maritimes sont alors strictement appliquées, notamment par l’Argentine, car ces dispositifs participent également à affirmer l’indépendance des États face aux pressions des puissances occidentales. Le refus du Cap-Vert d’accueillir le Hondius peut être lu par ce prisme. C’est un acte de précaution, mais aussi une décision politique de souveraineté.

Le médecin maritime, un acteur encore essentiel

Photographie d’un médecin de la Compagnie des messageries maritimes à la fin du XIXᵉ siècle.
Collection French Lines & Compagnie, CC BY-NC-ND

Au cœur de ces événements se trouve une figure souvent oubliée : le médecin maritime. Héritier des médecins de la marine militaire, son rôle s’est structuré au sein de la marine marchande au XIXᵉ siècle, notamment en France au fil des réformes de 1876 et 1896 qui professionnalisent la médecine embarquée. Aujourd’hui encore, une formation spécialisée subsiste en France à Brest (Finistère), préparant des praticiens à intervenir à bord ou depuis la terre mais toujours « en situation maritime ». L’épisode du Hondius souligne l’importance de ces compétences, à l’intersection de la médecine, de l’épidémiologie et de la logistique en milieu contraint.

La spécificité du milieu maritime ne tient pas seulement à l’isolement. Elle concerne aussi les vecteurs de maladies et, en l’occurrence, l’infection à hantavirus, lequel est suspecté dans cette affaire, se transmet par les rongeurs. Même s’il est hautement improbable que le mal vienne des entrailles du navire mais plutôt d’une escale, l’événement rappelle que la lutte contre les rats est une constante de l’histoire navale.

Les mesures drastiques mises en place au XIXᵉ siècle sont efficaces et permettent un net recul des populations de muridés à bord. La fumigation des cales en particulier, ou tout simplement l’installation de disques métalliques sur les amarres pour empêcher les rats de monter à bord comptent parmi les progrès majeurs. Malgré cela, la présence des rongeurs à bord n’est jamais totalement éradiquée. Paradoxalement, le nombre de rats retrouvés morts – mais sains après autopsie – à la fin d’une traversée était souvent considéré comme un indicateur indirect de l’état sanitaire du navire. La présence d’un cadavre animal pesteux signalait l’alerte sanitaire, avant même qu’un cas humain se manifeste.

Illustration d’un dispositif placé sur les amarres pour empêcher les rats de monter à bord des navires. Dessin de A. L. Tarter, années 1940.
Wellcome Collection, CC BY-NC-ND

Ces éléments rappellent que la mer reste un environnement à part, où les équilibres sanitaires sont fragiles. Ils invitent ainsi à réinvestir des champs d’études parfois négligés, à la fois dans le domaine maritime et sanitaire. Depuis quelques années, les historiennes et les historiens du fait maritime se penchent davantage au chevet des gens de mer. Une journée d’études consacrée à la santé en milieu maritime, intitulée « Prévenir et Guérir – Organiser la santé en mer (XVIIᵉ-XXᵉ siècle) », se tiendra par ailleurs le 13 mai prochain à l’Université d’Angers (Maine-et-Loire), signe que ces questions continuent de mobiliser les chercheuses et les chercheurs.

Loin d’être une simple anomalie, l’épisode du Hondius agit ainsi comme un révélateur. Il montre que, malgré les transformations des mobilités et des systèmes de santé, certaines configurations anciennes peuvent ressurgir. Et que, face à l’incertitude sanitaire, les sociétés renouent, parfois presque instinctivement, avec des pratiques héritées de plusieurs siècles d’expérience maritime.

La journée d’études « Prévenir et Guérir », sur l’histoire de la santé en mer, se tiendra le 13 mai 2026 à l’Université d’Angers (Maine-et-Loire).

Affiche de la journée d’études « Prévenir & Guérir » sur l’histoire de la santé en mer, le 13 mai 2026 à l’Université d’Angers.
steamer.hypotheses.org/3570, CC BY

François Drémeaux a reçu des financements de la commission européenne dans le cadre d’un contrat Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions pour le programme de recherche SHIPPAN (Shipping Pandemics).

– ref. Quarantaine flottante sur le « Hondius » : la longue histoire des crises sanitaires en mer ? – https://theconversation.com/quarantaine-flottante-sur-le-hondius-la-longue-histoire-des-crises-sanitaires-en-mer-282175

May 5, 2026

Que Europa prohíba destruir la ropa que no se vende no es suficiente

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Gabriel Vela Micoulaud, Profesor e investigador, Universidad de Deusto

Cuando una prenda no se vende solemos imaginar que acaba rebajada, en un outlet o, con suerte, donada. Cuesta pensar que ropa nueva, ya fabricada, transportada y almacenada, pueda terminar destruida sin haberse usado nunca. Sin embargo, esa destrucción existe y, precisamente por eso, la Comisión Europea ha concretado las reglas que aplicarán a partir del 19 de julio de 2026 a las grandes empresas.

Según la propia Comisión, la prohibición afectará a prendas de vestir, complementos de ropa y calzado, con excepciones justificadas en determinados casos(por cuestiones de seguridad, productos dañados que no puedan ser reparados, falsificaciones, entre otros).

Desperdicio textil

La reacción intuitiva es pensar que Europa cierra así una de las prácticas más absurdas del sector. Y hay razones para creerlo. La Comisión estima que cada año se destruye en Europa entre el 4 y el 9 % de los textiles nuevos no vendidos, con unas emisiones asociadas de alrededor de 5,6 millones de toneladas de CO₂.

Si ya se han consumido materiales, energía, agua y trabajo para fabricar una prenda, destruirla resulta difícil de defender. Pero conviene no quedarse en esa primera impresión. La prohibición corrige una práctica llamativa, incluso escandalosa, pero no elimina por sí sola el problema que la causa. Porque la cuestión de fondo no es qué hacemos con la ropa que sobra al final del proceso sino por qué el sistema produce tal volumen de sobrantes.

Leer más:
Hablemos de los residuos que genera la industria textil

Una prenda que nadie compra no siempre termina encontrando salida

Aquí es donde la nueva regulación resulta útil, y también donde conviene no exagerar su alcance. La norma no prohíbe “tirar ropa” en general, ni hace desaparecer de golpe todos los excedentes. Lo que hace es impedir la destrucción de determinados bienes no vendidos y obligar a las empresas afectadas a tomarse más en serio su gestión del stock.

La Comisión distingue entre dos obligaciones: la de informar y la de no destruir. Las grandes empresas ya deben informar sobre los productos no vendidos que desechan. Pero desde el 19 de julio de 2026 no podrán, además, destruir ropa, complementos y calzado no vendidos. En el caso de las empresas medianas, ambas exigencias se aplicarán a partir de 2030.

En busca de productos más duraderos, reparables y reciclables

Esta prohibición encaja en una agenda europea más amplia. La Estrategia de la UE para los textiles sostenibles y circulares no se limita a gestionar mejor el residuo: plantea que los productos textiles sean más duraderos, reparables y reciclables, y que la fast fashion deje de marcar el ritmo del sector. Esa perspectiva importa porque desplaza el foco desde el final de la cadena hacia el diseño del producto y el modelo de negocio.

En esa misma lógica se sitúa la revisión de la Directiva marco de residuos, ya en vigor, que introduce regímenes armonizados de responsabilidad ampliada del productor para los textiles. La idea es sencilla: que el coste del final de vida no recaiga solo en municipios y gestores de residuos, sino también en quienes ponen esas prendas en el mercado.

Reinventarse antes que destruir

Esta normativa puede tener efectos positivos reales. Si destruir deja de ser una salida fácil, las empresas tendrán más incentivos para liquidar antes, redistribuir, reacondicionar, revender o donar los productos que no se vendan en sus mercados tradicionales.

La medida no es simbólica: cambia el cálculo empresarial sobre qué hacer con el excedente. También introduce más transparencia sobre una parte poco visible del negocio textil. Pero sería un error presentar esta prohibición como si bastara por sí sola para corregir el problema ambiental de la moda.

Los datos europeos apuntan a una escala mucho mayor. En 2022, cada persona en la UE consumió, de media, 19 kilos de ropa, calzado y textiles personales y del hogar (en 2019 fueron 17 kilos). Ese mismo año, la UE generó 6,94 millones de toneladas de residuos textiles, equivalentes a unos 16 kilos por persona. Esa diferencia dice bastante.

El problema, más que destruir excedentes, es producirlos

Si el consumo medio se sitúa en 19 kilos por persona y el residuo en 16 kilos, el problema no puede reducirse a unas cuantas empresas destruyendo stock al final de la cadena. La Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente añade otro dato: en 2022, la UE solo recogió separadamente una parte menor de esos residuos. Una fracción importante siguió yendo mezclada con otros residuos, lo que dificulta mucho su reutilización o reciclaje.

El atasco no está solo en cuánto residuo se genera, sino en cuánto se logra recuperar bien. La Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente calcula que, ese mismo año, la tasa media de recogida separada de textiles y calzado domésticos en la UE fue inferior al 15 %. Es decir, incluso antes de discutir qué hacer con el excedente, Europa sigue teniendo un problema básico de captación, clasificación y tratamiento.

En otras palabras, impedir la destrucción de excedentes puede mejorar una parte del sistema, pero sin cambiar necesariamente su lógica profunda. Una empresa puede dejar de destruir prendas y seguir produciendo demasiado. Puede desplazar el excedente a descuentos permanentes, a canales opacos de liquidación o a circuitos exteriores de ropa usada. Ahí aparece otra pieza incómoda del problema. En 2023, la UE exportó alrededor de 1,37 millones de toneladas de textiles usados, sobre todo hacia África y Asia, y la Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente advierte de que el destino real de esos flujos no siempre está claro.

Medio camino recorrido

Esta prohibición debería leerse como una corrección necesaria, pero parcial. Necesaria porque pone límites a una práctica difícil de justificar. Parcial porque la sostenibilidad del textil no depende solo de impedir la destrucción de lo que sobra, sino de reducir el volumen de lo que se produce sin necesidad.

Dicho de forma simple: la industria de la moda será más sostenible no solo cuando destruya menos, sino cuando necesite generar menos excedentes. La nueva norma europea es un paso sensato. Pero la prueba de fuego no será cuánta ropa deja de destruirse, sino si se logrará reducir la sobreproducción que hace posible ese sobrante desde el principio.

Este artículo se publicó originalmente en la revista Telos de la Fundación Telefónica.

Gabriel Vela Micoulaud no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. Que Europa prohíba destruir la ropa que no se vende no es suficiente – https://theconversation.com/que-europa-prohiba-destruir-la-ropa-que-no-se-vende-no-es-suficiente-278170

May 5, 2026

¿Qué son los hantavirus y qué peligro representan?

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Raúl Rivas González, Catedrático de Microbiología. Miembro de la Sociedad Española de Microbiología, Universidad de Salamanca

El 2 de mayo de 2026, la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) informó sobre un grupo de personas con enfermedad respiratoria grave a bordo del crucero MV Hondius. El barco transportaba 147 pasajeros y tripulantes. El 4 de mayo de 2026, se habían identificado siete casos de hantavirus (dos confirmados por laboratorio y cinco sospechosos), incluyendo tres fallecimientos, un paciente en estado crítico y tres personas con síntomas leves.

MV Hondius navegaba desde el hemisferio sur hacia el norte para comenzar la temporada ártica, tras finalizar la temporada en la Antártida. Después de partir de Ushuaia, en Argentina, hizo escala en la isla de Santa Elena antes de poner rumbo al destino final previsto: el norte de Europa. El principal sospechoso de haber causado el brote es el hantavirus Andes.

Doscientos mil afectados cada año

Los hantavirus pertenecen al género Orthohantavirus, a la familia Hantaviridae y al orden Bunyavirales, y representan una amenaza significativa y emergente para la salud pública mundial, que afecta a más de 200 000 personas en todo el mundo cada año.

Son virus zoonóticos con una distribución casi global que causan dos enfermedades graves en humanos: la fiebre hemorrágica con síndrome renal (FHSR), en Europa y en Asia, y el síndrome cardiopulmonar por hantavirus (SCPHC), también llamado síndrome pulmonar por hantavirus (SPH), en América. Los roedores son los principales hospedadores naturales de los hantavirus causantes de la FHSR y el SPH, aunque se ha demostrado que los murciélagos, los topos, las musarañas, los reptiles y los peces también pueden ser portadores.

Las manifestaciones clínicas de la enfermedad varían según la distribución geográfica. En Asia, el virus Hantaan y el virus de Seúl (SEOV) infectan principalmente el riñón humano y causan fiebre hemorrágica con síndrome renal (HFRS). Uno de los principales puntos críticos de HFRS es la populosa provincia china central de Shaanxi.

En América del Norte, el virus Andes (ANDV) y el virus Sin Nombre (SNV) atacan los pulmones y causan el síndrome cardiopulmonar por hantavirus (HCPS) o el síndrome pulmonar por hantavirus (HPS).

En Europa, el virus Puumala (PUUV) y el virus Dobrava-Belgarde (DOBV) causan una forma más leve de HFRS, denominada nefropatía epidémica. En este continente, la mayoría de los casos (>90 %) se concentran en Finlandia, Alemania, Suecia, Francia y Croacia.

Partículas virales en la orina y las heces

No hay suficientes datos sobre cuánto tiempo son viables los hantavirus en el medio ambiente. Algunas investigaciones han demostrado que el virus Puumala, que provoca una afección renal con una mortalidad asociada del 1 % y que es la causa más común de infecciones por hantavirus en Europa, es capaz de permanecer infeccioso hasta quince días en la cama de topillos rojos (Myodes glareolus), un animal que actúa como reservorio para el virus. También puede seguir siendo viable a temperatura ambiente después de cinco días en un entorno húmedo y de veinticuatro horas en un ámbito seco.

Al parecer, los hospedadores naturales de los hantavirus presentan una infección persistente con escaso efecto biológico. La transmisión a los humanos ocurre principalmente por inhalación de partículas virales aerosolizadas presentes en la orina, las heces y la saliva de roedores infectados, a menudo durante la limpieza de áreas cerradas e infestadas. Y en raras ocasiones, también por mordeduras de los animales.

La probabilidad de contagio de persona a persona es baja, pero no imposible, y con algunos hantavirus puede ocurrir en casos de contacto muy estrecho y directo con una persona sintomática. De hecho, ha sido notificada una transmisión limitada de persona a persona en brotes anteriores del virus Andes.

No existe cura para las enfermedades por hantavirus

Los primeros síntomas incluyen fatiga, fiebre y dolores musculares, y las manifestaciones graves pueden comenzar entre 1 y 8 semanas después de la exposición. La principal pauta de prevención es evitar el contacto con roedores.

No existe una cura específica: el tratamiento es sintomático. Para el síndrome pulmonar, oxígeno, fármacos para estabilizar la presión arterial y, en ocasiones, el uso de respiradores mecánicos. Para el síndrome de fiebre hemorrágica renal, diálisis y el medicamento antivírico ribavirina.

Dado que no existe un tratamiento específico para la infección por hantavirus y el síndrome pulmonar por hantavirus (SPH), la detección precoz y los cuidados de apoyo tempranos son fundamentales. El manejo de los síntomas, como la administración de líquidos, la intubación, la ventilación, la monitorización y el soporte cardíaco, son las únicas maneras de controlar la progresión grave de la enfermedad. Sin la atención adecuada, la muerte suele producirse dentro de las 24 a 48 horas posteriores a la afectación del sistema cardiopulmonar.

La mayoría de los casos de síndrome pulmonar por hantavirus son causados por los hantavirus Sin Nombre, Andes y Choclo. Pero también existe constancia de casos provocados por el virus de Black Creek Canal, el virus Muleshoe y el virus Bayou en el sudeste de los Estados Unidos y México; el virus de Nueva York, una variante del virus Sin Nombre, en la costa este de los Estados Unidos; el virus Convict Creek y el virus Isla Vista en la costa oeste; y los virus Laguna Negra, Lechiguanas, Orán, Plata Central, Buenos Aires, Río Mearim, Juquitiba, Ape Aime Itapua, Araucaria, Jabora, Neembucu, Anajatuba, Castelo dos Sonhos, Maripo y hantavirus Bermejo en Sudamérica.

Tres mil soldados misteriosamente enfermos

El primer brote documentado de fiebre hemorrágica con síndrome renal (FHSR) ocurrió durante la Guerra de Corea, en 1951. Afectó a más de 3 000 soldados de las tropas desplegadas por la ONU. A pesar de una intensa investigación, el agente etiológico de esta enfermedad continuó siendo un misterio durante veintiocho años, hasta que el prototipo del hantavirus, el virus Hantaan –cuyo nombre deriva del río Hantaan, en Corea del Sur– fue aislado en 1978 del ratón de campo rayado (Apodemus agrarius).

Antes de la década de 1990 existía la creencia de que los hantavirus estaban restringidos a Asia y a Europa, pero la aparición, en 1993, de un brote infeccioso inusual en los Estados Unidos cambió esta percepción.

En la actualidad, el riesgo para España es muy bajo, pero, aun así, es necesario vigilar los hantavirus debido a su alta tasa de mortalidad. La vigilancia permite la detección temprana, el control de los roedores y la concienciación pública para prevenir la transmisión, ya que no existe tratamiento ni una vacuna específica.

Raúl Rivas González no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. ¿Qué son los hantavirus y qué peligro representan? – https://theconversation.com/que-son-los-hantavirus-y-que-peligro-representan-282186

May 5, 2026

Atrapados en el mar: ¿cómo se contiene un brote de hantavirus en un barco?

Source: The Conversation – (in Spanish) – By Luis Franco Serrano, Profesor de Ciencias de la Salud, UOC – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

La actual alerta sanitaria generada por el brote de hantavirus a bordo de una embarcación nos sitúa ante un escenario epidemiológico tan inusual como complejo.

A diferencia de otros patógenos, el hantavirus es una enfermedad zoonótica que se transmite principalmente a través de la inhalación de aerosoles procedentes de excrementos, orina o saliva de roedores infectados.

La transmisión de persona a persona es extremadamente rara (limitada casi exclusivamente a algunas cepas sudamericanas como el virus Andes). Por lo tanto, el problema principal en un barco no es solo el contacto entre los pasajeros o la tripulación, sino la exposición a un entorno cerrado donde el vector (normalmente ratas o ratones y sus deposiciones) podría estar conviviendo de manera invisible con los humanos en un espacio donde el aire circula de forma interna.

Aislamiento y cuarentena no son lo mismo

Ante una crisis así, las primeras medidas dictadas por las autoridades sanitarias suelen ser el aislamiento y la cuarentena. Aunque a menudo se utilizan como sinónimos en el lenguaje coloquial, en epidemiología responden a estrategias diferentes, y aplicarlas correctamente en un barco es fundamental.

El aislamiento se aplica exclusivamente a las personas que ya presentan síntomas o han dado positivo en la enfermedad. El objetivo es separar a los enfermos del resto de la tripulación para proporcionarles atención médica segura y evitar que cualquier fluido o vía de contagio llegue a personas sanas.

Por otro lado, la cuarentena se aplica a personas aparentemente sanas, pero que han estado expuestas al mismo entorno de riesgo (por ejemplo, que dormían en la misma cabina o trabajaban en la misma bodega donde ha habido contagios). A estas personas se les restringe el movimiento durante el período de incubación del virus para monitorizar si desarrollan síntomas.

Cómo se controla la infección en un barco

Aplicar estos dos conceptos en tierra firme es relativamente sencillo; hacerlo en un barco es un auténtico reto. Un barco funciona como un ecosistema cerrado. Para sectorizarlo, es necesario establecer un sistema de “zonas limpias” y “zonas sucias”.

El mayor desafío es la ventilación. Como el hantavirus se transmite por partículas suspendidas en el aire (cuando se levanta polvo contaminado por roedores), es vital asegurarse de que los sistemas de climatización y ventilación de las zonas de aislamiento y de las zonas de riesgo no recirculen el aire hacia las áreas seguras. Esto, a menudo, implica apagar determinados sistemas de ventilación compartida, utilizar filtros HEPA si la embarcación dispone de ellos, y confinar a los tripulantes en sus cabinas minimizando el tránsito por pasillos y zonas comunes.

Además de la ventilación, otro quebradero de cabeza operativo es la gestión de residuos y suministros. En alta mar, los residuos biológicos o los materiales posiblemente contaminados (como toallas, sábanas o las bandejas de comida de los tripulantes en cuarentena) no pueden almacenarse de cualquier manera ni arrojarse por la borda. Requieren un protocolo de doble bolsa sellada y almacenamiento en zonas aisladas hasta su correcta incineración o tratamiento al llegar a puerto.

Paralelamente, establecer circuitos de “contacto cero” para hacer llegar agua y alimentos a la tripulación confinada en las cabinas es vital para evitar la contaminación cruzada.

Cortar la vía de transmisión: el aislamiento del vector

Dado que el hantavirus se propaga del entorno animal a los humanos y no de persona a persona, restringir los movimientos de la tripulación resuelve solo una parte de la ecuación. La cuarentena humana no es suficiente; es necesario actuar sobre el vector que la provoca, las ratas, que siguen libres por la embarcación y los elementos que han contaminado.

El verdadero reto logístico a bordo es la desratización y la desinfección. Este proceso debe ser extremadamente riguroso. La norma de oro con el hantavirus es no barrer ni aspirar nunca en seco, ya que eso levantaría polvo cargado de partículas virales y facilitaría su inhalación.

Toda limpieza de bodegas, cocinas o espacios de carga sospechosos debe realizarse con métodos húmedos, rociando las superficies con soluciones de lejía u otros desinfectantes antes de limpiarlas. El personal encargado de esta tarea debe ir equipado con Equipos de Protección Individual (EPI) de alta seguridad, incluyendo mascarillas con filtros para partículas (tipo FFP3), gafas estancas y guantes. Sin esta desinfección ambiental intensiva, el barco sigue siendo infeccioso.

La urgencia de estas medidas radica en la resistencia del propio patógeno. El hantavirus puede sobrevivir a temperatura ambiente en entornos cerrados durante varios días.

Además, la estrategia de desratización a bordo requiere precisión: a menudo se priorizan las trampas físicas frente a los cebos envenenados. El motivo es puramente preventivo: si un roedor ingiere veneno y muere en un conducto de ventilación o un espacio inaccesible, su cuerpo seguirá siendo un foco de liberación de partículas virales a medida que se descomponga y empeorará gravemente la situación.

El Reglamento Sanitario Internacional en un mundo globalizado

La llegada a puerto en estas condiciones está estrictamente regulada por el Reglamento Sanitario Internacional de la OMS. Este marco establece cómo deben coordinarse los puertos para autorizar un atraque seguro y atender a la tripulación sin poner en riesgo a la población local. Las autoridades de Sanidad Exterior solo darán permiso para interactuar con el puerto cuando el barco sea declarado oficialmente libre del patógeno y del vector.

Casos como este nos recuerdan una lección fundamental: en un mundo hiperconectado, el comercio marítimo y la movilidad no solo transportan bienes y personas, sino también vectores climáticos y enfermedades zoonóticas. La prevención, el control estricto de plagas en el transporte de mercancías y la preparación epidemiológica de los puertos no son simples trámites burocráticos, sino la primera y más importante línea de defensa de la salud pública global.

La paradoja de esta crisis es que no es necesario aislar a las personas para proteger el entorno, sino desinfectar el entorno para proteger a las personas, ya que es el barco el que resulta infeccioso, y no su tripulación.

Luis Franco Serrano no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.

– ref. Atrapados en el mar: ¿cómo se contiene un brote de hantavirus en un barco? – https://theconversation.com/atrapados-en-el-mar-como-se-contiene-un-brote-de-hantavirus-en-un-barco-282203

May 5, 2026

Biological invasions can cause severe animal suffering

Source: The Conversation – France – By Thomas George Evans, Principal Investigator, Freie Universität Berlin

Yellow crazy ants (_Anoplolepis gracilipes_), or Maldive ants, are among the world’s 100 most invasive species. Roman Prokhorov/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC

Biological invasions occur when organisms such as animals and plants are introduced by people to regions of the world where they do not naturally occur. In these new locations, these organisms are referred to as “alien species”.

Biodiversity is the variety of all living organisms on earth. It is the interconnected web of life that is a wonder to behold – it is also vital for people, providing the foundation for happy, healthy lives.

Biological invasions can be severely damaging to biodiversity. Alien species interact with native species in many different ways. For example, they often compete with native species for resources such as food.

This can cause declines in the abundance of native wildlife and, in some cases, the permanent loss of native species (their global extinction).

The European fox has been introduced to Australia, where it preys on native animals. It has caused the extinction of several small mammal species.
Fourni par l’auteur

The number of alien species being introduced to new regions continues to rise. Hence, identifying and managing their impacts on native biodiversity is a global conservation priority. A great deal of research has been published on this topic.

However, biological invasions can cause another type of impact that is far less comprehensively studied and managed. These are impacts that cause the suffering of animals.

Animal welfare and sentience

Animal welfare is defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health as

“the physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and dies”.

Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations, such as pain, fear and anxiety. It is now widely recognised that many different types of animals are sentient. In the United Kingdom, the welfare of these sentient animals is protected under the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.

Biological invasions affect the welfare of sentient animals

Biological invasions result in interactions between organisms (including plants and animals) that can severely harm the welfare of the animals involved. For example, the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi) was accidentally introduced to the Galápagos Islands from South America several decades ago.

It lays its eggs in the eyes of fledgling native birds. When they hatch, the larvae feed on the soft tissue around the eyes and nares (nostrils) of the birds. This causes wounds, infection and death.

There are no native insects that cause these welfare impacts on the Galápagos archipelago.

A dead nestling bird with enlarged nares (nostrils) caused by larvae of the avian vampire fly, which crawl inside the nares to feed on soft tissue.
Andrew Katsis/Wikipedia, CC BY

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is a highly flammable grass species that has been introduced to western USA from Eurasia.

Across the Great Basin, it increases the frequency, size and intensity of wildfires, and the number of individual animals that they kill. These animals include greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).

Greater sage-grouse are burnt by wildfires caused by cheatgrass, which is a flammable alien plant species.
Joegrzybowski/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC

House mice (Mus musculus) were accidentally introduced to Gough Island in the South Atlantic Ocean by sailors in the 19th century.

They attack and eat ground-nesting Tristan albatrosses (Diomedea dabbenena). Having evolved on the island in the absence of predators, the albatrosses are naive to the threat posed by the predatory mice – hence, they do not evade predation.

While this is a biodiversity impact (the mice have caused the albatross population to decrease), it is also an animal welfare impact, as demonstrated by these images. House mice have also recently been recorded attacking albatrosses on Midway Atoll.

Welfare impacts are poorly understood

The animal welfare impacts of biological invasions are a neglected research topic. Few studies have explicitly attempted to identify and describe them.

Hence, we do not have a good understanding of the extent and severity of the animal suffering they cause. Furthermore, we do not understand how this suffering occurs, which animals are most severely affected, and how best to protect them.

Frameworks for biological invasions

Frameworks are conceptual tools that provide standardised systems and rules which can be applied to make sense of complex processes. They can be useful for structuring data on wildlife, including data on the impacts of biological invasions.

Several frameworks have been developed that assess the biodiversity impacts of biological invasions. However, no frameworks have been developed to explicitly assess their animal welfare impacts.

Our research, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, introduces a new framework to assess the animal welfare impacts of biological invasions. This framework is called the Animal Welfare Impact Classification for Invasion Science (AWICIS).

The AWICIS framework

AWICIS assesses impacts on animals that are sentient and protected by UK animal welfare legislation. These are mainly vertebrate animals, although some invertebrate animals are also protected, including Cephalopods (octopuses, cuttlefish and squid).

AWICIS assesses welfare impacts affecting both native and alien animals. This is significant, as research on biological invasions tends to focus on impacts affecting native animals. Our framework recognises that alien animals can also suffer from welfare impacts caused by biological invasions.

While biodiversity research focuses on impacts affecting the survival of species, AWICIS focuses on impacts affecting individual animals.

It identifies “relative changes to the welfare of an individual animal” that are caused by a biological invasion.

To do this, the framework uses five “impact severity” categories (i – v) to quantify the harm caused by a biological invasion on a given animal. It also categorises welfare impacts by type using 11 impact categories. For example, these categories include the “transmission of disease” from one animal to another, and “predation” of one animal by another.

House finches have been introduced from the west coast of the USA to the east coast. They suffer from avian conjunctivitis, which they have spread to other garden birds in the state of New York, including purple martins. Avian conjunctivitis causes blindness, starvation and death.
Coleen Lawlor/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC

Indicators are used in animal welfare science to provide evidence of impacts affecting the welfare of animals.

AWICIS uses three different indicators:

The physical appearance of an animal (e.g., dead or injured animals)
The behaviour of an animal (e.g., lethargic animals suffering from diseases)
Measurable physiological functions that provide insights into the welfare of an animal (e.g., elevated levels of stress hormones produced by an animal).

The welfare impacts of ant invasions

We used AWICIS to assess the welfare impacts of ant invasions. Many different ant species have been introduced to regions of the world where they would not naturally occur. Some use acid to attack and kill animals.

Red imported fire ants attacking an insect in Texas, USA. These ants are capable of killing much larger animals, including fledgling birds and hatchling turtles.
evvobevvo/iNaturalist, CC BY-NC

Using AWICIS we found several of these ant species to cause the most severe category of welfare impact on many types of animals. Ground nesting animals were often affected, including fledgling birds and hatchling alligators and turtles.

Ants can take a long time to kill an animal, so they can cause a great deal of suffering in the process. Unfortunately, these ant species have been introduced by humans to many locations worldwide, including numerous islands and several regions of the USA.

This means that their severe welfare impacts are an ongoing, global phenomenon. Hence, many animals have suffered, and many more will do so in the future as a result of our actions (introducing ants to places where they do not belong).

Preventing the introduction of ants (and other organisms) to new environments is crucial if we are to stop biological invasions from causing unnecessary and severe animal welfare impacts.

A more complete picture of the impacts of biological invasions

It is well known that biological invasions are problematic for biodiversity – they threaten the survival of native species. The socio-economic impacts of biological invasions have also been well studied – these are impacts that affect human health and wellbeing.

In our study, we shed light on a third major type of impact caused by biological invasions – animal welfare. Hence, our study provides evidence for the impacts of biological invasions on “One Health”, which is a term used to recognise that the health of the environment, people and animals is interconnected.

AWICIS is available online

Researchers wishing to report and assess the animal welfare impacts of biological invasions can use the AWICIS Assessment Template.

Observations by researchers studying the biodiversity impacts of biological invasions will also be useful to establish the extent and severity of these animal welfare impacts. Hence, they are encouraged to report these observations using the AWICIS Assessment Template.

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Thomas George Evans a reçu des financements de Animal Welfare Initiative et German Research Foundation (DFG).

– ref. Biological invasions can cause severe animal suffering – https://theconversation.com/biological-invasions-can-cause-severe-animal-suffering-281845

May 5, 2026

To lead in global innovation, Canada must prioritize basic science

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Shay M. Freger, PhD Candidate and Clinical Researcher, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University

A healthy Canadian research ecosystem cannot survive on the final stages of innovation alone. (Unsplash)

Canada’s National Research Council boldly advertises itself as “advancing mission-driven science and innovation” — to strengthen national security, economic resilience and global competitiveness.

This ambition is difficult to reconcile with a national research system that has, for years, placed too little value on the basic, exploratory, investigator-led science that makes those outcomes possible.

In 2017, Canada’s Fundamental Science Review found that federal funding had shifted too far toward priority-driven and partnership-oriented research. In 2023, the Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System made a similar point: mission-driven research depends on the strength of the broader research ecosystem, including curiosity-driven work.

Recent federal investments in research infrastructure, including more than $552 million through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, are important. They help universities, hospitals and research institutions acquire laboratories, equipment and facilities to conduct world-class research.

However, a healthy research ecosystem also needs stable and sustained operating support for investigator-led work. This includes the early, uncertain studies that identify tomorrow’s neglected problems before they become today’s policy priorities.

A nation’s ‘scientific capital’

Health research shows why this distinction matters. We celebrate new treatment advances such as CAR T-cell therapy, which genetically engineers a patient’s immune cells to attack cancer. We welcome CRISPR-based therapies such as Casgevy, a gene-edited cell therapy for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia.

But these advances did not appear fully formed. They were built through years of work in molecular biology, immunology, genetics, chemistry, engineering and clinical science, much of it conducted before anyone could promise a product, a company or a clinical payoff.

That foundation is fragile when it is treated as optional. As American science adviser Vannevar Bush said back in 1945, basic research is the source of a nation’s “scientific capital.” The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) continues to make this case clearly today: public support is essential for research and innovation.

A healthy Canadian research ecosystem cannot survive on the final stages of innovation alone. Of course, it needs applied research, commercialization and measurable impact. But it also requires the earlier, “high-risk” discovery work that expands the horizon of what is possible.

Special calls are not enough

Endometriosis makes the problem concrete: it affects many people in Canada, is associated with pain, infertility and reduced quality of life. Canadian research has reported an average diagnostic delay of 5.4 years.

In fields like this, upstream science is not a luxury. Before better diagnostics and treatments can exist, researchers have to ask basic questions about inflammation, pain, immune function, hormones, nerves, genetics, imaging and disease progression.

As researchers working in reproductive health, we have seen how targeted federal grant calls can elevate under-researched conditions. The National Women’s Health Research Initiative, for example, was designed to address high-priority areas of women’s health and improve care for women, girls and gender-diverse people.

This kind of targeted funding matters. It can create momentum and build networks. But it cannot carry a research system on its own. Targeted calls are often time-limited, theme-specific and shaped by priorities that are already visible enough to attract policy attention.

The case of mRNA vaccines

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines looked to many people like a scientific miracle delivered at unprecedented speed. But that apparent speed was misleading. The vaccines did not emerge from nowhere.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for discoveries that enabled effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. Their work helped solve a central problem: how to make mRNA useful as a medical tool without having the body immediately recognize and destroy it as a threat.

Even that breakthrough rested on a much wider scientific history, involving around 50 years of public and private research. Scientists had to understand how mRNA carries genetic instructions, how cells translate those instructions into proteins, how immune systems detect foreign RNA and how fragile mRNA could be delivered safely into cells. None of that work was a vaccine when it began. Yet without it, the vaccine could not have arrived when it was needed.

This is why short-term thinking in science policy is so risky. If research is valued only when it can explain its payoff in advance, systems will gradually favour projects that are safer, narrower and more immediately tangible. That may produce useful results in the short term, but it weakens the broader discovery pipeline over time.

Reliance on other nations

There is a strong economic case for paying attention. A 2024 study of 15 OECD countries found that public investment in research and development had positive and persistent effects on GDP and also stimulated business research and development investment.

Public support for long-term research is not separate from economic strategy. It is part of how countries build it. But the deeper issue is not only economic. It’s whether Canada wants to remain a producer of knowledge or become increasingly dependent on knowledge produced elsewhere.

A country that under-invests in basic research does not stop benefiting from science. It becomes more reliant on other systems to take the early risks, generate the foundational knowledge and shape the next generation of medical, technological and industrial advances. Canada’s Fundamental Science Review warned that continued imbalance in funding would leave the country increasingly dependent on discoveries and ideas generated abroad.

This impacts our health, climate science, energy and emerging technologies. It’s important in terms of how well Canada can respond to future crises. And it matters whether neglected areas of health and science ever receive the depth of inquiry required to produce real change.

Canada must protect upstream research

Canada should not have to choose between useful and ambitious science. These are not opposing goals. They are different points along the same continuum. Today’s basic research becomes tomorrow’s applied science. Today’s obscure mechanism becomes tomorrow’s therapy.

Today’s difficult question may become tomorrow’s platform technology. But only if someone is allowed to ask it.

Canada needs targeted programs. It needs research infrastructure. It needs commercialization possibilities that help discoveries reach patients, communities and markets. It needs sustained investment in investigator-led research.

That means protecting operating grants from erosion, funding trainees and early-career researchers, supporting high-risk work in neglected fields and evaluating scientific value by more than immediate commercial readiness.

This is not indulgence. It is foresight.

Shay M. Freger receives funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) and Health Canada. He writes and conducts research on endometriosis, health equity, and health systems reform. The views expressed are his own.

Mathew Leonardi works for McMaster University (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), Hamilton Health Sciences, and SUGO – Specialized Ultrasound in Gynecology and Obstetrics. He receives funding from CanSAGE, CIHR, Hamilton Health Sciences, Health Canada, SOPHIE, MITACS, and Medical Research Future Fund.

– ref. To lead in global innovation, Canada must prioritize basic science – https://theconversation.com/to-lead-in-global-innovation-canada-must-prioritize-basic-science-279713