Key events 2011

The control of vector-borne diseases and their vectors is a major animal and public health issue. A modelling approach has made it possible to integrate scattered and heterogeneous knowledge between vector species or vector-borne diseases in order to propose epidemiological models and vector population dynamics that can be used to evaluate targeted control strategies.

The Joint Technological Unit in Cattle Herd Health Control demonstrates its ability to generate finalised research work co-constructed with stakeholders, producing rapidly transferable results for the integrated management of animal health, well-valued scientifically and research training materials. The results of the first UMT thesis defended are published and used as tools for agricultural advice.

To fight ticks effectively (tick vaccines, acaricides), it is essential to know their genetic variability. We have shown that Eurasian populations of Ixodes ricinus have no genetic structure, whereas those in North Africa are very divergent. These populations could also present phenotypic differences, such as vectorial competence, which could have consequences on the epidemiology of some tick-borne diseases.

The portage of Campylobacter by pigs has been studied by combining experimental (infection of EOPS animals, development of real-time quantitative PCR tests, evaluation of strain genotyping methods under controlled conditions) and epidemiological (description of the infection of pigs in conventional herds) approaches to help identify avenues for the control of this portage.