Within the framework of the ENHANCE project, integrated approaches are being developed to better understand emerging health threats in marine ecosystems. A recent scientific talk highlighted the collaboration between the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, focusing on how citizen science can support the monitoring of betanodavirus outbreaks in Mediterranean groupers (family Epinephelidae) under a One Health perspective.
The talk was delivered by Francesc Padrós, from the Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and presented advances in understanding how this viral disease is affecting marine species and how it can be tracked more effectively.
Monitoring a marine animal health pandemic
In recent years, mass mortality events involving groupers and other fish species have been reported in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea. These events have been associated with betanodavirus, a pathogen responsible for viral nervous necrosis, which causes severe neurological symptoms, including disorientation and loss of balance, often leading to death.
One of the challenges in studying this disease is that outbreaks are highly scattered in space and time. Traditional scientific monitoring alone is often insufficient to detect early signs or to capture the full geographic extent of these events.
Citizen science as a monitoring tool
To address this challenge, researchers are increasingly relying on citizen science. Divers, fishers and other sea users are frequently the first to observe abnormal fish behaviour or mortality events, making them essential contributors to large-scale monitoring efforts.
In this context, the MINKA platform has created a specific project. MINKA enables citizens to report observations of affected fish, upload photographs and record locations and dates. These contributions create a shared dataset that allows researchers to follow the evolution of the betanodavirus outbreak across the Mediterranean coast.
Platforms and citizen communities like MINKA allow to improve spatial coverage and temporal continuity.
Early insights from the data
Preliminary results presented during the talk indicate that citizen science data are already helping to identify patterns in the occurrence of affected groupers. Observations suggest that cases tend to concentrate in specific coastal areas and periods, opening the door to exploring links with environmental conditions such as temperature or local stressors.
While these findings are still exploratory, they provide guidance for directing targeted fieldwork and laboratory analyses, making disease monitoring more efficient and responsive.
This collaboration between ICM-CSIC and UAB exemplifies the One Health approach promoted by ENHANCE, connecting animal health, environmental processes, and societal participation. From another perspective, citizen science platforms like MINKA demonstrate how public engagement can meaningfully support research at the interface of environmental and animal health.
The full talk by Francesc Padrós is available online, in Catalan.