The AH Division

They occur in a context of a general “minimalist” approach to regulations. New livestock farming expectations, with greater concern for animal well-being and the environment,and limited use of anti-infectious agents, once again raise the issue of animal health in intensive livestock production and in the context of various types of regulated agriculture (e.g. “green”/environmentally friendly/sustainable agriculture).

At the same time, increasing evidence of toxicological hazards also affects the animal production industry with issues related to drug residues, mycotoxins and xenobiotics in the environment. There is an increasing awareness of the need for the detection,prevention and control of pathological status which remain a permanent objective for animals and their populations. It has to be taking into account in agriculture systems improvement.

In the 1990s, the European health policy was thought to be rather effective, being founded on monitoring, health prophylaxis and survey systems. It included eradication through slaughter, mass vaccination campaigns, and the intensive use of xenobiotics. This success obscured the fact that the health of animal populations is the result of an unstable balance between, on the one hand, the combined efforts of monitoring, health prophylaxis and inspection systems, and on the other hand, pathologic factors. The health crises in the last decade (BSE, FMD, BTV) have brought to the attention of risk managers, the livestock production industry and the public the fact that the risks of enzootic or emerging infections of production animals are still a real threat not only to the agricultural economy and sustainability but also to public health.

Emerging diseases are among the main challenges that we are facing today. Enzootic health disorders must be controlled at competitive costs and must comply with ever tighter regulations. Within this framework, the Animal Health Division is responsible for supporting missions in specific fields. AHD has set up a strategic agenda including a highly relevant list of a significant but limited number of health disorders, the development of appropriate skills and expertise, the sharing of upgraded capacities, and partnerships. Some key points are highlighted:

• Major thematic changes recently addressed by reorganizing research teams in order to tackle new fields: prion diseases, avian flu, arthropod-borne diseases and epidemiology.
• Development of competitive clusters, resources and shared platforms: the Animal Health Centre of Tours, the Virology Network of Ile de France, the Toxicology Centre of Toulouse, biocontained experimental facilities and expertise in pathological anatomy.
• Development of academic partnerships, public and private professional partnerships at national and European levels.