Exploiting textual source information for epidemiosurveillance

In recent years as a complement to the traditional surveillance reporting systems there is a great interest in developing methodologies for early detection of potential health threats from unstructured text present on the Internet. In this context, we examined the relevance of the combination of expert knowledge and automatic term extraction in the creation of appropriate Internet search queries for the acquisition of disease outbreak news. We propose a measure that is the number of relevant disease outbreak news detected in function of the terms automatically extracted from a set of example Google and PubMED corpora. Due to the recent emergence we have used the African swine fever as a disease example. (Résumé d'auteur

Monitoring of vector-borne diseases: methods, strengths / weak point

Recent outbreaks of vector-borne diseases in France over the past decade have illustrated the need for efficient surveillance methods to monitor the onset and / or spread of these diseases. Epidemiological surveillance can detect the emergence of new or exotic diseases or monitor the epidemiological situation of an already established disease in an area to adapt control measures. Epidemiological surveillance can take many forms that can be combined to monitor a disease: Eventdriven surveillance (also called passive surveillance), programmed surveillance (or active surveillance) and syndromic surveillance. The specificities of the vector-borne diseases surveillance are based on the frequent complexity of their epidemiological cycles and the surveillance of the vectors. Entomological surveillance uses specific methods that are sometimes heavy and expensive to implement. It can track the geographical distribution of vectors, periods of vector activity, but due to a frequently low vector competence, usually cannot monitor diseases transmitted by these vectors.Les récents épisodes de maladies à transmission vectorielle en France au cours des dix dernières années ont illustré la nécessité de disposer de méthodes de surveillance performantes pour suivre l’apparition et/ou l’évolution de ces maladies. La surveillance épidémiologique permet de déceler l’apparition d’une maladie nouvelle ou exotique ou de suivre l’évolution de la situation épidémiologique d’une maladie déjà implantée sur un territoire afin d’adapter les méthodes de contrôle. Les modalités de surveillance peuvent prendre diverses formes qui peuvent être combinées pour assurer le suivi d’une maladie : surveillance évènementielle (encore appelée surveillance passive), surveillance programmée (ou surveillance active) et surveillance syndromique. Les particularités de la surveillance des maladies à transmission vectorielle reposent sur la complexité fréquente de leurs cycles et sur la surveillance des vecteurs. La surveillance entomologique utilise des méthodes spécifiques qui sont quelque fois lourdes et couteuses à mettre en oeuvre. Elle permet de suivre la répartition géographique des vecteurs, les périodes d’activité vectorielle mais, en raison fréquemment d’une faible compétence vectorielle ne permet pas de suivre les maladies transmises par ces vecteurs

Surveillance of vector-borne diseases in equids in France

Epidemiosurveillance has become an important part of veterinary practice. In equine medicine, vectorborne diseases have recently become a serious concern in France and in Europe, following the re-emergence of West Nile Fever, equine infectious anaemia cases, and the possible introduction of African horse sickness. The aim of our paper is to discuss some methodological issues linked to the implementation of a surveillance system. In most cases, the passive system is the most cost-effective. Recent advances in information technology, geomatics and spatial analysis will help define research avenues for the implementation of real-time surveillance and early warning surveillance systems. Vector-borne diseases are dependant on the environment and thus good candidates for the development of such tools.L'épidémiosurveillance est devenue une activité essentielle du praticien vétérinaire. En médecine équine, les maladies vectorielles ont récemment pris une place importante dans l'actualité française et européenne du fait de la réémergence de la fièvre du Nil occidental, de foyers d'anémie infectieuse, et du risque potentiel d'introduction de la peste équine. Le présent article discute des modalités et de la méthodologie de la mise en oeuvre d'un système d'épidémiosurveillance. Dans la plupart des cas, le système passif présente le meilleur rapport coût/efficacité. Les dernières acquisitions dans les domaines de l'informatique, les communications, la géomatique(4) et l'analyse spatiale permettent de définir des axes de recherche pour la mise en oeuvre de systèmes permettant la surveillance en temps réel et l'alerte précoce. Les maladies vectorielles, dépendantes de l'environnement, sont de bons exemples pour le développement de tels outils

Risk indicators affecting honeybee colony survival in Europe: one year of surveillance

International audienceAbstractThe first pan-European harmonized active epidemiological surveillance program on honeybee colony mortality (EPILOBEE) was set up across 17 European Member States to estimate honeybee colony mortality over winter and during the beekeeping season. In nine Member States, overwinter losses were higher and statistically different from the empirical level of 10 % under which the level of overwinter mortality was considered as acceptable with usual beekeeping conditions. In four other countries, these losses were lower. Using multivariable Poisson regression models, it was showed that the size of the operation and apiary and the clinically detected varroosis, American foulbrood (AFB), and nosemosis before winter significantly affected 2012–2013 overwinter losses. Clinically detected diseases, the size of the operation and apiary, and the non-participation to a common veterinary treatment significantly affected 2013 summer losses. EPILOBEE was a prerequisite to implement future projects studying risk factors affecting colony health such as multiple and co-exposure to pesticides