Enhancing laboratory capacities in the Caribbean for better animal health regional surveillance

The Caribbean Animal Health Network (CaribVET) is a collaboration network of veterinary services, laboratories, research institutes and regional/international organizations in the Caribbean. Its goal is to improve animal and veterinary public health in the 32 Caribbean countries and territories. In the past, CaribVET had evaluated 34 CARICOM diagnostic laboratories and organized several workshops on IATA regulations and on diagnostic techniques. CaribVET coordinated simulation exercises on Avian Influenza samples' shipment and inter-laboratory assays on Classical Swine Fever diagnostic. The 'Laboratory Quality Assurance and Diagnosis Working Group ' (WG), created in 2011, gathers main actors involved in diagnostic and laboratory activities and meets every 3-4 months physically or virtually. The WG (1) regularly updates diagnostic capabilities and capacities in the region; (2) identifies training needs, promotes and strengthens links with reference labs; (3) provides guidance for the development of a regional network of laboratories while promoting the exchange of data, protocols, materials, and human resources; (4) promotes the implementation of quality assurance in veterinary diagnostic laboratories; and (5) supports the logistics of inter-laboratory assays. Recent achievements include (1) the development of an online database of laboratories in the Americas (CaribVET, CIRAD Guadeloupe, OIE collaboration); (2) signature of a letter of understanding between OIE and CaribVET to develop joint activities in accordance to both structures' recommendations; and (3) organization of a workshop on diagnostics of swine influenza and quality assurance in Guadeloupe within the FAO technical cooperation project on swine influenza surveillance. These coordinated activities reinforce diagnostic capacities and capabilities in the Caribbean which are essential for efficient surveillance of animal health. (Texte intégral

Target genes for strain-specific diagnostic of Ehrlichia ruminantium and use thereof

The invention provides a combination of target genes that are useful as genetic markers for the strain-specific detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium. The invention also provides diagnostic methods using said combination of markers.(Résumé d'auteur

What impact of climate change on animal health?

Several animal or zoonotic emerging infectious disease (EID) events were recently caused by vector-borne pathogens, e.g. bluetongue virus (BTV) transmitted by biting midges which caused huge economic losses in western Europe between 2006 and 2009, and is still around, or tick-borne encephalitis in northern and central Europe, causing several thousands of clinical cases in humans. The effects of climate changes have been put forward to explain these EID events. Because the bio-ecological features of arthropod vectors make them highly sensitive to environmental conditions, vector-borne diseases are ideal candidates to assess the effect of climate changes on EID. The question was extensively studied these past years. For instance, the effects of climate on BTV's emergence in Europe were evaluated by integrating high-resolution climate observations and model simulations within a climate-driven, mechanistic transmission model of BTV. This model explained, in both space and time, many aspects of BTV's recent emergence and spread, including the 2006 BTV outbreak in northwest Europe which occurred in the year of highest projected risk since at least 1960. Driven by simulated future climate from an ensemble of 11 regional climate models, the model projected an increased future risk of BTV emergence across most of Europe with uncertainty in rate but not in trend. More generally, results showed that each EID is a special case and involves a complex network of interacting causes. In several cases, socio-economic changes, including the intensification of trade and travels, were found to have a dominant effect over climate changes. This is particularly true for tick-borne encephalitis in northern and central Europe. Conversely, the indirect effects of climate changes on animal health have been rarely studied so far. For instance, regarding northern and sub-Saharan Africa, climate-change scenarios often point to important consequences on farming systems (e.g., greater importance of small ruminants with respect to cattle) and urbanization. These changes will cause major changes in transboundary livestock trade, thus allowing the introduction of pathogens (and their possible vectors) into previously free areas. This is a further illustration of the need to better control animal diseases in their geographic are of endemicity, and to improve surveillance and preparedness for early warning and reaction in case of high risk of EID. (Texte intégral

La cowdriose dans la Caraïbe

La cowdriose est une maladie tropicale mortelle des ruminants due à Ehrlichia ruminantium (ER) et transmise par des tiques du genre Amblyomma. Elle est présente en Afrique sub-saharienne, dans l'Océan indien et, dans la Caraïbe, uniquement en Guadeloupe continentale (Grande Terre et Basse Terre, hors dépendances), à Marie Galante et à Antigua. EnGuadeloupe et encore plus à Marie Galante, le taux d'infestation des troupeaux par les tiques A. variegatum est très élevé (elles sont présentes dans 45% des élevages) et le taux de tiques infectées par ER l'est aussi (15%), expliquant la forte prévalence des cas de cowdriose. La diversité des souches d'ER dans la Caraïbe est aussi importante qu'en Afrique. La recherche sur la mise au point de vaccins est confrontée à cette diversité des souches sur le terrain et nécessite des études poussées d'épidémiologie moléculaire. La tique A. variegatum, initialement présente sur seulement trois îles, s'est établie dans une majorité des îles des petites Antilles pendant la seconde moitié du XXe siècle. Un programme d'éradication mis en place dans les îles anglophones a permis de limiter cette dispersion mais il subsiste un risque d'introduction d'A. variegatum sur le continent américain notamment via les hérons gardeboeufs en provenance de la Caraïbe. Le groupe de travail " Tiques et maladies transmises " du réseau caribéen de santé animale CaribVET a recommandé, pour les îles les plus infestées par A. variegatum et ne pouvant mettre en place une surveillance de la tique, de développer au moins une surveillance de la cowdriose. Ainsi, depuis 2010, un réseau de surveillance des pathologies nerveuses (RESPANG) chez les ruminants a été mis en place en Guadeloupe, portant une attention particulière à la cowdriose. Il vise à mieux caractériser la maladie sur l'île, à analyser les facteurs de risque et à améliorer la communication aux éleveurs sur le sujet. (Résumé d'auteur