CIRAD and Daaf Guadeloupe organized with CARICOM Secretariat and Guadeloupe region in collaboration with European, Caribbean and Guadeloupe partners on April 21 the first regional conference on research and surveillance of animal diseases. The conference, funded by the European project Epigenesis, was held at the Regional Raizet space between the second meeting of the steering committee for this project on April 20th and the 10th meeting of the steering committee of the Caribbean Animal Health Network (CaribVET) 22 and 23 April, also 10th anniversary of the network. This 10th anniversary was followed by the meeting of the veterinary services of Heads of Government of CARICOM April 24 at CIRAD.

All the actors of animal health in the Caribbean – decision makers, researchers, epidemiologists and surveillance professionals - were gathered in Guadeloupe the week of April 20th. They will attend on April 21 the first conference on research and surveillance of emerging and zoonotic vector borne animal disease.

Those diseases threaten animal and veterinary public health worldwide, they adapt quickly to global changes. The research and surveillance programmes on those diseases allow anticipating health crisis but also to elaborate innovative control strategies. Participants in the conference  addressed following priority diseases in the region:

Tick-borne diseases (heartwater, babesiosis and anaplasmosis), mosquito-borne diseases (West Nile Fever), rodent-borne pathogens (leptospirosis) and other emerging diseases (Avian Influenza, Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, …). Most important results of research and surveillance activities conducted on those diseases were presented, either by researchers or CaribVET members.  

"With this conference, we hope to show how the products of research benefit stakeholders in surveillance in Guadeloupe and in the Caribbean, and conversely, how we orient our research according to their issues in the field. With the meeting of the Epigenesis project steering committee, we will benefit from the presence of our European scientific partners (CReSA, INRA-Bioepar, AviaGIS, EHESP, and ITQB IBET) and international experts to a mid-project evaluation of EPIGENESIS" says the project coordinator Nathalie Vachiery, CIRAD, head of the Caribbean Centre for Research and Surveillance of animal and zoonotic infectious diseases.

"The joint organization of this conference, the 10th anniversary meeting of CaribVET and a meeting of veterinary leaders of Caricom will facilitate exchanges and strengthen ties between veterinary officials, researchers, policy makers and politicians. These meetings and discussions help optimize decision making in veterinary public health" said Jennifer Pradel, coordinator of CaribVET network.

At the conference, flagship results obtained from research and surveillance of priority and emerging diseases in the Caribbean were exposed. The research were presented by scientists from CIRAD and its European partners (in multidisciplinary fields such as microbiology, epidemiology, medical entomology, bioinformatics and health economics); surveillance activities were presented by members of CaribVET and veterinary services from throughout the Caribbean.

120 participants from forty countries were expected: researchers from Guadeloupe (CIRAD, Pasteur Institute, University), the Caribbean (Cuba Censa, University of West Indies Trinidad), Europe as well as representatives of the Regional Health Agency of Guadeloupe and Martinique, veterinary services in 33 countries and territories in the Caribbean and representatives of regional organizations (CARICOM Secretariat) and international (OIE, FAO, USDA, PAHO, IICA).

Daaf: Direction de l'Agriculture, de l'Alimentation et de la Forêt

OIE: World Organisation for Animal Health

FAO: United Nations organization for Food and Agriculture

PAHO: Pan American Health Organization

IICA: Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

USDA: US Department of Agriculture