Bridging the research gap between China and the EU The research community has an important role to play in controlling animal diseases like avian influenza and classical swine fever. Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo tells us about the LinkTADs project’s work in coordinating research between the EU and China, work which will help lay the foundations for continued investigation into animal diseases across regions The nature of modern farming and international trade heightens the risk of animal diseases spreading rapidly, sometimes jumping thousands of kilometres at once as illustrated by the rapid expansion of avian influenza. The European Union and China both hold deep scientific expertise on transboundary animal diseases (TADs) and zoonoses (those which can be transmitted to humans); now the LinkTADs project aims to strengthen research links, bringing together partners in the EU and China. “The idea behind LinkTADs is to get research groups in both regions working together on common animal health projects,” says Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo, the project’s Coordinator. The scope of the project was very broad, determined to a large degree by the interests of the partners. “The partners defined the topics - e.g. diseases of interest - and then workshops, exchanges and meetings were organised based on those interests,” explains Beltran-Alcrudo. “A wide range of topics were discussed at those workshops and meetings, and the projects that have come out of it are also very diverse, but always within the wider area of animal health.” A number of major research priorities have been identified, one of which is in epidemiology, the study of the patterns of disease transmission. While China is very advanced in areas like diagnostics and vaccine development, the one area in which there is a relative skills gap is in epidemiology. “We don’t always know 40
how a disease spreads, how it behaves. That means asking questions like what percentage of animals are affected? What are the market chains, are animals moving between places? In what places do animals congregate, and where do you need to test them?” explains BeltranAlcrudo. A second key priority was to coordinate the work that is being done on developing diagnostics and vaccines with the work of epidemiologists, so that diagnostics and vaccines can be applied more effectively. “We aimed to get these two groups working together, which previously hasn’t always been the case. That was another big focus of the project,” outlines Beltran-Alcrudo.
Many different projects have been established to investigate issues around animal diseases, in terms of improving surveillance, prevention and control. However, with this high volume of research, it becomes increasingly difficult for scientists to keep track of existing knowledge and identify potential collaborators for new studies. “It would be difficult for a researcher in Sweden to know who in China is working on a specific topic for example. LinkTADs bridges that gap,” says Beltran-Alcrudo. The project enables scientists to come together and discuss topics of interest, identify technological gaps and potentially establish new collaborations to address important questions in research. “There are eleven
Relationship network within LinkTADs and with external partners.
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Summary of LinkTADs’ achievements.
partners in LinkTADs, and we aimed to make sure that those groups were working together and sharing information,” outlines Beltran-Alcrudo. “We also invited researchers from outside the project to the workshops and meetings, based on the interests of our partners.”
Disease prevention The wider goal in this is the prevention and control of transboundary animal diseases, some of which also represent a threat to human health. A number of transboundary animal diseases are currently present in the Chinese countryside and other areas; BeltranAlcrudo says the project’s priority is investigating those diseases which cross borders. “The focus of LinkTADs is on transboundary animal diseases,” he stresses. “We have been involved in some activities on diseases that are really entrenched in a particular country, but we’re looking primarily at diseases that are spreading from country to country and region to region.” Researchers first investigated which animal diseases were of interest to both the EU and China, eventually identifying a list of ten, which includes porcine reproductive respiratory syndrome (PRSS), African and classical swine fever,
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and avian influenza. The project aims to help coordinate research into these different diseases, holding workshops and meetings to identify major priorities and help ensure resources are allocated efficiently. “For example, we invited researchers to a workshop where we looked into the gaps on the diagnostic side for a number of diseases, then we did the same on the epidemiology side, What would a joint project look like? What would be the major benefits?” continues Beltran-
provides a good example of the importance of close collaboration. A primary aim of the workshop was to propose collaborations between partners on epidemiology and laboratory research in priority areas. “Here we managed to coordinate researchers on diagnotics and on epidemiology to come up together with a quick gap analysis of what’s needed in 8 priority diseases,” outlines BeltranAlcrudo. This work has already had a significant impact. “By the end of the
The focus of LinkTADS is on trans-boundary animal diseases. We’re looking primarily at diseases that are spreading from country to country and from region to region Alcrudo. Overall eleven technical workshops were held, spanning epidemiology, laboratory and policy issues, while seven webinars were also broadcast over the course of the project, covering mostly specific diseases or policy questions. “We tried to give researchers from both sides as many opportunities as possible to get to know each other,” says Beltran-Alcrudo. The project’s workshop on Status Analysis and Identification of Potential Collaboration on Animal Diseases, held in April 2015 in the Chinese city of Qingdao,
2-day workshop, we had project concept notes for each disease including priority gaps to be addressed, main activities, partners and their role, institutional partners, length of the project, etc,” continues Beltran-Alcrudo. “One of the projects, on Japanese encephalitis, has actually been funded already.” This close collaboration can help lay the roots of continued research into transboundary animal diseases. While the project’s three year term has now concluded, Beltran-Alcrudo hopes there will be a lasting legacy in the form of
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At a glance
LinkTADs Kick-off Meeting
Full Project Title Linking Epidemiology and Laboratory Research on Transboundary Animal Diseases and Zoonoses in EU and China (LinkTADs) Project Objectives • To identify the priority areas, where joint actions are needed. • To link the research activities carried out on by European and Chinese research programmes. • To ensure a wide-range networking of scientific communities and stakeholders. • To provide a long term vision and achieve coordinated planning on future common research. • To contribute to the international policies of the EU. • To improve the research capacity of organizations by supporting young researchers; through exchange programmes and training. • To share the results and methodologies within and outside the consortium. Project Funding 1,000,000 EUR Project Partners Please see website for full details: http://www.linktads.com/about/ partnership#sthash.1Q14VC39.dpbs Contact Details Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo Animal Health Officer (veterinary epidemiologist) FAO, Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia Benczur utca 34, Budapest 1068 E: Daniel.BeltranAlcrudo@fao.org W: http://linktads.com/#sthash.c4Viq5QI.dpuf
Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo
continued research and close collaboration between European and Chinese scientists. “Now that the researchers know each other, they are planning projects and working on research together. So in the coming months more papers will be published by partners on both sides, and more projects will be funded,” he outlines. The project website will also continue to help researchers find funding for their work. “This will allow researchers to quickly search what funding mechanisms are available. Also, we have a network of professionals that will remain active until the end of the project, who will offer advise to those who want to go into animal health research,” says Beltran-Alcrudo. “They can contact the members of the network, who include representatives of the different institutions involved in LinkTADs. We have also established exchange programmes to encourage knowledge sharing, and are involved in training courses across a number of different areas.”
Policy The wider goal in this research is to help improve disease prevention and control in
both China and the European Union. The rapid growth of the Chinese economy has led to increased demand for animal protein, and today China is the world’s largest livestock producer and consumer, yet as has been noted, a lot of the production takes place in backyard settings. “This could be people who have very few animals, with very low animal health regulations and security. It’s all marketed in a very informal way, and the animals may even cross borders into neighbouring countries without any controls,” says Beltran-Alcrudo. This has significant implications in terms of disease exposure; the project’s data will help underpin policy on the prevention and control of trans-boundary animal diseases. “On the policy side, we aim to help get both regions working together, to help make sure that policies are equivalent on both sides,” continues Beltran-Alcrudo. “We’re also looking at how research is prioritised, and aim to make sure that interests on both sides are represented.”
Daniel Beltran-Alcrudo is a veterinary epidemiologist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He has worked on several projects aiming to assist national veterinary services in the surveillance, prevention and control of various transboundary animal diseases, most importantly African swine fever, avian influenza, lumpy skin disease or Rift Valley fever.
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