Roche Benjamin auteur aut IRD Broutin H. auteur aut IRD Choisy Marc auteur aut IRD Godreuil S. auteur aut IRD Constantin de Magny Guillaume auteur aut IRD Chevaleyre Y. auteur aut IRD Zucker Jean-Daniel auteur aut IRD Breban R. auteur aut IRD Cazelle B. auteur aut IRD Simard Frédéric auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Background: During the last century, WHO led public health interventions that resulted in spectacular achievements such as the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of malaria from the Western world. However, besides major successes achieved worldwide in infectious diseases control, most elimination/control programs remain frustrating in many tropical countries where specific biological and socio-economical features prevented implementation of disease control over broad spatial and temporal scales. Emblematic examples include malaria, yellow fever, measles and HIV. There is consequently an urgent need to develop affordable and sustainable disease control strategies that can target the core of infectious diseases transmission in highly endemic areas. Discussion: Meanwhile, although most pathogens appear so difficult to eradicate, it is surprising to realize that human activities are major drivers of the current high rate of extinction among upper organisms through alteration of their ecology and evolution, i.e., their "niche". During the last decades, the accumulation of ecological and evolutionary studies focused on infectious diseases has shown that the niche of a pathogen holds more dimensions than just the immune system targeted by vaccination and treatment. Indeed, it is situated at various intra-and inter-host levels involved on very different spatial and temporal scales. After developing a precise definition of the niche of a pathogen, we detail how major advances in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology of infectious diseases can enlighten the planning and implementation of infectious diseases control in tropical countries with challenging economic constraints. Summary: We develop how the approach could translate into applied cases, explore its expected benefits and constraints, and we conclude on the necessity of such approach for pathogen control in low-income countries. specialized EPIDEMIE ENDEMIE METHODE DE LUTTE POLITIQUE DE SANTE AGENT PATHOGENE ECOLOGIE DES PARASITES NICHE ECOLOGIQUE RELATION HOTE PARASITE EVOLUTION ETUDE DE CAS ZONE TROPICALE TIERS MONDE 052LUTIN 021ENVECO 14 art. 753 [9 en ligne] 2014 1471-2458 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010062816 10.1186/1471-2458-14-753 1471-2458 [F B010062816] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010062816 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers17-10/010062816.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2014-08-27 2017-10-31 fdi:010062816 fre