Focusing on monitoring: the impor tance of a network

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Important network

Together we are stronger and we know more. That’s why it’s important that various organisations cooperate to monitor animal health. Within the Netherlands but also further afield. An extensive network has developed over the years, which continues to grow.

Animal health monitoring in the Netherlands is an initiative of the government and livestock farming sector; the parties involved jointly determine the form it takes. This cooperation between private and public parties is one of the success factors of the monitoring process. And also extremely important. We exchange a great deal of knowledge with other parties (supplementary knowledge and for example alternative laboratory technology) for absolute maximum benefits. Human and veterinary parties work together under the principle of ‘One Health’. This allows us to take timely measures in the event of zoonoses, pathogens which are transferable from animals to people. Priority is given to the protection of the health of humans and animals.

International cooperation

Although we do our very best here, animal diseases do not stop at the national borders. That’s why in its research and knowledge exchange activities, GD cooperates with a broad and steadily growing international network of researchers and laboratories. Thanks to this exchange, monitoring information can be placed in a broader framework, thus improving the chances of early detection of new disorders and giving insight into the best possible response. Jolianne Rijks and George Caldow (who work for parties with which GD cooperates), can tell us more about the importance of international cooperation.

Jolianne Rijks, researcher at the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC)

“OUR FIELD NETWORK IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT”

“The core task of the Dutch Wildlife Health Centre (DWHC) is to detect and investigate diseases among wild animals in the Netherlands. A central task lies in acquiring and effectively using knowledge of wild animal diseases.

We conduct pathological examinations on dead wild animals; this is general surveillance rather than being focused on any particular disease. DWHC is government financed. We tend to mainly investigate extraordinary mortality cases: high numbers or strange circumstances of deaths. Pathology and histology point us in the direction of specific diseases. Our cooperation with other organisations, including GD, becomes important in the follow-up diagnostics. We also conduct specific surveillance for avian influenza in dead wild birds. Twice a year, we draw up an inventory of the diseases detected by the organisations who monitor wildlife. The findings are then shared by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) and the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). This network resembles a relay run as it were; it starts with the eyes of the people working in the field and their willingness to cooperate. The cooperation with organisations such as GD is important, also with a view to interpretation of signals. We can only study a relatively small number of animals each year, but GD has experience with epidemiological models which give us added insight into the actual problem.

The importance of such cooperation became very evident in 2020 when there was a major avian influenza outbreak, when we collected extra samples from mustelids in order to monitor them for SARS-COV-2 and when we discovered our first beaver suffering from tularemia. When a zoonosis is discovered, it is important that the medical world is well-informed, via the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). After all, the health status of wildlife is a very important indicator of the health of the ecosystem as a whole. Partly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing awareness that monitoring of the health of wild animals deserves attention alongside monitoring of the health of people and farmed animals.”

Important network

George Caldow, head of Veterinary Services at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)

“COOPERATION IS CRUCIAL FOR THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE AND ANIMALS”

“Alongside our agricultural education, around 10 to 15 percent of our work entails the provision of veterinary services. We undertake research into animal diseases on behalf of the Scottish government, including the promotion of animal welfare and combating zoonoses. We also monitor wild animals, paying attention to AI and the West Nile virus, for example. The monitoring of wild animals is therefore important both from the livestock farming perspective but also with a view to the One Health concept. We need to be aware of the role played by livestock, wildlife and people in each other’s health. Our monitoring is mainly driven by the importance of animal health, though in actual fact it is important to all three. The health and populations of wild animals are indicators of the general health of an ecosystem. In Scotland and the United Kingdom, a network of organisations gathers all data on the monitored animal diseases. The national government then reports this information to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

High-pathogenic AI in migratory birds played an important role in 2020. We discovered a number of clusters and were faced with a few outbreaks among Scottish poultry farms. The situation was more problematic further south, where there is a more sizeable poultry farming sector. Mink farming has been prohibited for many years here, so we have not been confronted with SARS-COV-2 issues. In Scotland, we also investigate crimes against wild animals. Birds of prey are regularly killed, often by people with a vested interest in the hunting sector, which is of economic importance here. We gather any evidence and prosecute people where possible.

I believe that our future challenges lie in the changing public opinion on livestock farming and the impact of that sector on the environment and on wild animals. As far as our monitoring is concerned, this may mean that the health of wild animals will play a greater role as an indicator for the health of the ecosystem as a whole. GD and SRUC are important partners within the existing European Veterinary Surveillance Network; relationships which we are looking to develop. Animal health monitoring is much more effective when everyone involved can contribute and share information. Without such openness, we would struggle to satisfactorily combat infectious diseases. Our cooperation is crucial for the health of people and animals alike.”