SEA-ROADS: monitoring dengue in South-East Asia
One Health Regional Approach for Integrated and Interconnected Urban Dengue Surveillance in Southeast Asia.
Last updated on 15 October 2026
Key points
The SEA–ROADS project is developing a regional approach to dengue surveillance in urban areas, based on entomological, environmental and mobility data collected in five major cities in South–East Asia.
Its aim is to better characterise and anticipate the conditions that favour the transmission of dengue.
Dengue is one of the main mosquito–borne viral infections in tropical and subtropical regions. In South–East Asia, its transmission is particularly prevalent in urban environments, where human populations, mosquito vectors and rapidly changing environments are closely interlinked. Urbanisation, environmental and climatic changes, and the daily movements of people can alter the conditions that favour the presence and dynamics of vector mosquitoes and, consequently, the transmission of the dengue virus.
Against this backdrop, the SEA-ROADS project (ANRS 0637) proposes a regional and integrated approach to dengue surveillance in urban areas, based on the ‘One Health’ concept. The project combines entomological, environmental and human data to better understand the factors that determine the presence and abundance of vector mosquitoes in cities across South-East Asia and to explore their relationship with the dynamics of dengue.
In brief
Type of project
Scientific study
Principal investigator
Sébastien BOYER (Institut Pasteur du Cambodge)
Teams
Richard PAUL (Institut Pasteur)
Sébastien REY-COYREHOURCQ (CNRS Normandie)
Éric DAUDÉ (MEAE initialement, maintenant CNRS Normandie)
Vincent HERBRETEAU (IRD)
Funding
Émergences PRFI – 2023 Laureate
Pathology
Dengue
Status
Ongoing
Objectives of the SEA-ROADS project
The geographical context
SEA-ROADS is being implemented in five major cities in the region: Bangkok in Thailand, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Vientiane in Laos and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. One of the project’s key challenges is to establish data collection methods that are sufficiently standardised to allow for the comparison of data across the different cities, whilst taking into account the specific characteristics of each urban environment.
In each city, a network of traps is used to monitor the presence and abundance of mosquitoes, primarily Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which play a major role in the transmission of the dengue virus. The data collected enable the spatial and temporal distribution of mosquitoes to be characterised at a fine scale and allow variations in their abundance over time to be studied.
Cross-referencing multiple datasets
These entomological data are linked to the characteristics of the urban environment. Information derived from geographical data and satellite imagery enables, in particular, the characterisation of various elements of the urban landscape, such as land use, vegetation, building density and other characteristics likely to influence mosquito populations. The aim is to identify the environmental characteristics associated with their presence and dynamics in the various urban contexts under study.
The project also incorporates data on population mobility. Daily movements can indeed help to connect different neighbourhoods within the same city and different areas, and thus constitute an important factor in understanding the circulation and spread of infectious agents in highly connected urban environments. Linking mobility data with entomological and environmental data will enable these interactions to be explored at different spatial scales.
Another key feature of SEA-ROADS is the interconnection of data generated across the five cities. The project therefore aims to develop a regional approach enabling comparisons of the situations observed in different urban contexts across South-East Asia. This regional dimension should make it possible to identify common factors, whilst also providing a better understanding of the local specificities that influence mosquito population dynamics and the risk of dengue transmission.
All of this data will be used to develop modelling approaches to identify the factors associated with the presence and abundance of mosquitoes and to explore their relationship with dengue dynamics. These models could help to improve surveillance and identify situations or areas with conditions particularly favourable to transmission.
Improving dengue surveillance
Ultimately, SEA-ROADS aims to contribute to the development of a more integrated, detailed and better-interconnected dengue surveillance system in South-East Asia. The objective is to bring together entomological, environmental, human and epidemiological data to provide a more comprehensive picture of transmission dynamics in urban environments.
Beyond the scientific findings, the project also seeks to strengthen regional collaborations and research capacities in the fields of entomological surveillance and vector-borne diseases. The sharing of methods, data and expertise amongst partner teams is a key element of the project and should enable the development of an approach that can be replicated in other urban contexts across the region.
SEA–ROADS is therefore part of a strategy to prepare for the evolving landscape of vector–borne diseases, particularly in a context characterised by urbanisation, environmental and climate change, and increased human mobility. By developing a regional and interdisciplinary approach, the project aims to improve the knowledge required for more effective surveillance and better anticipation of conditions conducive to dengue transmission.