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1st regional conference on research and surveillance on animal and zoonotic infectious diseases in the Caribbean

One hundred and nine persons from 34 countries of Europe, America and Africa participate to the regional conference held in Guadeloupe on the 21st of April 2015. EPIGENESIS European partners, Caribbean partners (members of CaribVET network), Guadeloupean partners and research experts from other countries were invited to the first regional conference on research and surveillance on animal and zoonotic infectious diseases in the Caribbean.

Participants were:

  • Chief Veterinary officers representatives from 25 Caribbean countries
  • Representatives from CARICOM Secretariat and representatives of regional and international organizations (OIE, FAO, IICA, PAHO, USDA)
  • Research institutes (CIRAD Guadeloupe, CIRAD France, CENSA Cuba)
  • Universities: University of the West Indies (Trinidad), University of Guyana (Saint Georges), Ross University, University of Mozambique
  • Professional organizations (Caribbean Poultry Association, Belize Poultry Association, Jamaica Broilers)
  • Representative of the French Ministry of Agriculture, of Guadeloupe region and of the Secretariat Technique Commun (Interreg programme) and USDA-FAS
  • Partners of the Epigenesis project: INRA (Nantes), Ecole des Hautes Etudes de Santé Publique (EHESP, Rennes), Research Center on Animal Health of Cataluna (CReSA, Spain), AviaGIS (Belgium), IBET (Portugal), ITQB (Portugal)
  • Members of the Epigenesis Scientific committee and Innovation and technology transfer boards: University of Antilles (Guadeloupe), Institut Pasteur de Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe University hospital, University of Aix Marseille, CIRAD CMAEE-Senegal, University of Minnesota
  • Other participants included researchers from Institut Pasteur Guadeloupe, mosquito control agency (ARS-LAV), French public health agency (ARS)

The 1st regional conference aimed to bring together chief veterinary officers, researchers, risk managers, animal health managers and other decision makers to foster a better dialog between science and policy in the field of animal health. It was organized the same week (from the 20th to the 24th of April 2015) as 3 other events: the EPIGENESIS steering committee (SC) meeting, including the EPIGENESIS innovation and technology transfer and the scientific committee boards, the CaribVET SC and the meeting of CARICOM Chiefs of veterinary services.

The scientific aspects included presentations and discussions on insect-borne diseases (West Nile virus, Blue tongue), tick-borne diseases (Heartwater, Anaplasmosis and babesiosis) and ticks  (Tropical Bont Tick, Cattle Fever Tick), rodent-borne diseases (leptospirosis), emerging and re-emerging diseases in the Caribbean, as well as new surveillance & risk assessment tools.

Research topics that were presented at the conference mainly dealt with research of CIRAD Guadeloupe, including the projects of the post-doc researchers recruited on the Epigenesis project while other scientific/technical presentations dealt with activities conducted within the frame of CaribVET Working groups and addressed surveillance and animal health policy more generally.

Access the programme of the Conference

More information:

The Conference was funded by the Epigenesis project and participation from Chief Veterinary Officers from CARIFORUM countries was supported by the 10th European Development Funds SPS Project: “Support to the Forum of Caribbean States in the implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures” being executed by IICA. Additional funding support was provided by Guadeloupe Region and French Ministry of Agriculture (DAAF Guadeloupe).

Date: 
Tuesday, 21 April, 2015 - 08:00 to 17:30

Economic study on CaribVET was presented at the 31st West Indies Agricultural Economics Conference

The conference is organized by the Caribbean Agro-Economic Society, with the participation of economists and researchers mostly from the Caribbean.

CaribVET was represented at the Conference wi tht following oral presentation: "Towards a regional approach for animal health services provision and disaster risk reduction (DRR): The economics of the Caribbean Animal Health Network" presented by Damian Tago, economist at CIRAD recruited for a 18 month post-doc within the framework of the EU/Regpot/Epigenesis project.

The objective was to introduce CaribVET to the Caribbean community of economists. This was an opportunity to:

  1. Make know the work undertaken in the Caribbean in animal health among the agricultural economists in the region
  2. Get feedback regarding the economic model that describes the benefits of CaribVET as a regional approach for the provision of animal health services and disaster risk reduction.
  3. Identify potential collaborators in economy in the region

Access the Programme of the conference here

More information on the Conference: visit Conference website

View presentation and Extended abstract submitted

 

 

 

 

Date: 
Sunday, 9 August, 2015 - 08:30 to Friday, 14 August, 2015 - 18:00

Second International workshop on Temporal analysis of satellite images

Dr. Eva De Clercq, a spatial epidemiologist recruited as a post-doc researcher at CIRAD, participated in the 2nd International Workshop on Temporal Analysis of Satellite Images, which was organized along with the 35th Symposium of EARSeL. EARSeL is a scientific network of European remote sensing laboratories, coming from both academia and commercial/industrial sector, which covers all fields of geoinformation and earth observation through remote sensing.

The workshop intends to be forum for discussion of research issues related to temporal analysis of remotely sensed data.  Since the launch of Landsat-1 in 1972, a large number of earth observation satellites have been launched.  The wealth of multitemporal data provides excellent opportunities to study environmental changes at local, regional and global scale. The workshop includes a wide arrays of topics such as:
•    Multitemporal image calibration and correction
•    Landsat, NOAA AVHRR, MODIS, MERIS, SPOT VGT Data Archive
•    Multitemporal SAR and InSAR data analysis
•    Cross-sensor satellite data - data fusion
•    Methodology for analysis of temporal data
•    Change detection methods
•    Landuse and land cover dynamics
•    Vegetation dynamics,ecological processes and environmental impact
•    Applications of multitemporal data

Eva De Clercq presented a poster on Mapping mosquito habitat in Guadeloupe (French West Indies) using high and medium resolution imagery. See Abstract

More information on EARSel: visit the Association website, or the conference website.

More information on the International Workshop on Temporal analysis of satellite images.

Date: 
Wednesday, 17 June, 2015 - 08:00 to Wednesday, 19 August, 2015 - 17:00

Avian Influenza Workshop, Barbados - Regional preparedness

CaribVET members, poultry farmers and members of the Caribbean Poultry Association, international organizations like FAO, researchers from the Caribbean region (CIRAD, CENSA) and international experts from USDA-APHIS met in Barbados to address Avian influenza threat for the region.

Dr. Eva De Clercq participated in the workshop to further develop the Caribbean Veterinary Information System (C-VIS) with the Caribbean partners, following the outcomes and decisions of the CaribVET/Epigenesis Round Tables organized in April 2015, in Guadeloupe.

Specific objectives related to this project were to:

  1. Fine-tune the questionnaires for data collection for planning Avian Influenza surveillance and follow up of potential outbreaks in the region, looking for harmonization of terms ;
  2. Fine-tune the Confidentiality agreements for data sharing as well as CaribVET Declaration of Interest to use C-VIS
  3. Advocate the use of standardized data collection methods and centralized data storage.

All the objectives were reached and the Epigroup fine-tuned questionnaires/E-forms, the CaribVET confidentiality agreement and DOI. The members also discussed the programme of the regional training workshop on the use of C-VIS for Avian Influenza risk mapping in the countries.

The workshop participants recommended to use and adopt the C-VIS tools to enhance Avian Diseases surveillance in the Caribbean countries and ease harmonization of data collection to further enable data analysis at the regional level.

An updated version of the online questionnaire was distributed to the workshop participants on 10/07/2015. Feedback on the online version will be collected in August so that the forms and platform is ready for pilot testing in September. Further development of the GIS platform and its adoption remains an ongoing process. A regional workshop on the use of new surveillance tools is planned to help veterinary services to use those tools end of October (date and venue to be confirmed).

 

More information:

Date: 
Sunday, 5 July, 2015 - 08:15 to Thursday, 9 July, 2015 - 12:00

First symposium on Health Modelling, Guadeloupe

A modelling symposium was organized by CIRAD (BGPI research team in Guadeloupe) and University of Antilles in Guadeloupe (LAMIA research unit) on risk modeling in epidemiology. About fourty persons participated, mainly from Guadeloupe and France. Four sessions were organized on the Campus of Fouillole (University of Guadeloupe):

  • Statistical and numerical methods
  • Risks in animal health
  • Risks in plant health
  • Risks in human health

Several researchers from CIRAD CMAEE Research unit participated in the symposium and presented their work:

  1. Wy is living together so difficult? The romantic tragedy of two Amblyomma species in Mozambique (David Pleydel)
  2. Species distributin modelling for rhipicephalus microplus in Benin, West Africa: comparin datasets and modellin algorithms (Eva De Clercq)
  3. Movement restrictions to control the disease transmission in a livestock network and the effect of farmers strategic behavior (Damian Tago).

The session was introduced with a key note presentation from Michel Langlais (emerit professor at the Univeristy Victor Segalen, Bordeau2): a singular reaction-diffusion system modelling prey-predator interactions: invasion and co-extinction waves.

It was the first symposium on health modelling organized in Guadeloupe. The goal was to unite local and national experts in epidemiological modelling from plant, animal and human heath to trigger exchanges and emphasize cross-cutting methodology.

More information: 

- Workshop: Programme

- News on the CIRAD antilles Guyane Website

 

Date: 
Tuesday, 19 May, 2015 - 12:00 to Wednesday, 20 May, 2015 - 17:00

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by Dr. Radut