2024-03-28
INTERFACES, a new endowment chair that investigates emerging viral diseases at the interface between wild and domestic fauna.
ENVT (UMR IHAP – ENVT/INRAE) and the Ceva Wildlife Research Foundation are pleased to establish a strategic partnership to create the INTERFACES sponsorship chair. Located at the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT), it will seek to implement ambitious research projects on the emergence of viruses at the interface between wild and domestic animals.
Based on the results of the selection, Dr. Pierre BESSIERE was appointed head of this department. A veterinarian by training, he holds a university doctorate in virology. His expertise focuses in particular on the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and the ability of these viruses to cross the species barrier. Pierre BESSIERE is also very active in clinical research as well as mediation and awareness of emerging viral diseases.
The vast majority of emerging human viral diseases are of animal origin, with wild animals largely involved. A better understanding of how the viruses responsible develop and spread in animal populations is the first step to protecting human health. It was in this context that the INTERFACES sponsorship chair was created.
This department will be particularly interested in avian influenza viruses, interactions between domestic and wild animals, and between birds and mammals.
Highly pathogenic H5Nx avian influenza viruses have likely never circulated as widely in wild avifauna as they have in the past two years, prompting France to launch a massive duck vaccination campaign. This increase in their circulation consequently increased the likelihood that mammals would encounter the carcasses of infected birds and thus become infected in response. In recent years, numerous cases of infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5Nx have been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health; cases involving bears, foxes, minks, marine mammals, etc. Individually, these infections do not pose a real threat – even if mammal-adapted mutations are very often identified that facilitate viral replication in a non-avian host.
On the other hand, when chains of transmission are possible, the danger is completely different: by circulating from animal to animal, the virus can quickly evolve, which can lead to the emergence of viruses that can be efficiently transmitted between mammals. The department’s research project will focus on these carnivorous mammals (particularly cats), which occur at the interface of wild avifauna and
domestic avifauna. By conducting studies across France, it will be possible to determine to what extent the H5Nx viruses have succeeded in infecting them and what the mechanisms are that allow the avian virus to infect mammals.
At the same time, other new or re-emerging viruses in France will be studied, such as distemper virus, for which we are currently seeing increased circulation in wild and domestic fauna, and feline infectious peritonitis virus, for which a more pathogenic variant has recently emerged in Europe . These two viruses pose a threat to the conservation of wild carnivores while simultaneously affecting the health of domestic carnivores. Surveillance projects combined with laboratory studies will allow us to better understand their epidemiology and, in particular, their circulation at the wild-domestic interface.
These projects will involve partnerships with a network of entities involved in disease diagnosis or monitoring, such as the French Office of Biodiversity (OFB), the Association of Veterinarians of Zoological Parks (AVPZ) or the University Veterinary Hospital Centers (CHUV) of France. national veterinary schools. They will also support initial veterinary training, continuing education, and research training (supervised by undergraduates, graduate veterinarians, and graduate university students).
ABOUT UNVT
The National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT), created in 1828, is a public higher education and research institution dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. She is involved in training a quarter of French veterinarians to address animal health and welfare, as well as the major public health challenges of today and tomorrow. ENVT’s research is structured around 14 units in partnership with two public scientific and technical institutions: INRAE and Inserm. www.envt.fr
About the INRAE-ENVT IHAP joint research unit
The Mixed Host-Pathogen Interactions (IHAP) Research Unit is a multidisciplinary animal infectious disease research facility attached to the Animal Health Division of the IRAE. Established in 2003 on the ENVT campus, its main goal is to understand the interactions between pathogens and their hosts at different levels of life (molecule, cell, individual, population). The unit’s research focuses primarily on diseases identified by the World Organization for Animal Health as a top priority and/or posing a threat to animal and public health.
About the Ceva Wildlife Research Foundation
The Ceva Wildlife Research Foundation is a unique charitable foundation dedicated to funding applied research projects aimed at protecting the health of wildlife.
The trust’s three main objectives are: conserving biodiversity, combating zoonotic outbreaks and preserving the interactions between wildlife, farm animals and people.
Ceva Santé Animale, the 5th largest animal health company in the world, aims to provide innovative health solutions for all animals to ensure they receive the highest level of care.
and well-being, has created the Ceva Wildlife Research Fund with the aim of funding research projects whose results will be quickly visible, with a time frame of 3 to 5 years maximum.
https://www.ceva.com/fr/wildlife-research-fund-fr/
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