WAVLD Symposium Handbook_V4.indd - csiro

Tues 13 November
World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians – 13 th International Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 11-14 November 2007
APPLICATION OF BIOTECHNOLOGY TO INFECTIONS WITHIN WILDLIFE HOSTS
D J Middleton
CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, PB24 Geelong 3220
“Wildlife enters the frame”
Wildlife health is complicated and essentially unexplored, while intervention strategies are even less clear.
This is the case even for infectious diseases that affect wildlife hosts although they are of special
significance for diverse reasons. Firstly, their control is necessary for the protection of human health: of the
1415 recognised human pathogens, 61% are zoonotic and wildlife is often a link in the chain of emergence.
Secondly, wildlife pathogens influence domestic animal health and by association the human food supply,
with spillover of known emergency animal diseases providing particular political, conservation and
commercial challenges. Thirdly, they may be the sign of a stressed ecosystem and represent a risk to
biodiversity, especially where keystone species such as a top predator are affected leading, for example, to
a population explosion of herbivores and overexploitation of plants. Ultimately, the casualties of this process
will be loss of ecosystem services such as tourism and “existence value”. Climate change, with the potential
for emergence of new diseases as well as changed wildlife and vector competencies and distribution,
generates additional levels of complexity. Finally, infectious disease control is essential across the broader
national canvas to safeguard trade, the wider economy and for national security.
Deployment of late 20 th C to 21 st C biotechnology is essential for the purpose of enhancing the assessment
and management of infectious disease threats in wildlife. Specific applications include the discovery of
elusive wildlife reservoirs using high sensitivity, high throughput testing systems, such as those employed in
the discovery of fruit bats as the reservoir of Ebola virus. Contemporary biotechnology also has enabled
incidence and prevalence studies, on which epidemiologic data effective disease management relies, to be
carried out in reservoir animals, including surveillance and diagnosis for serious zoonotic diseases such as
Nipah virus infections in Pteropus lylei where Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratories are not available. Modern
technologies have contributed greatly to our understanding of the mechanism of host-switching by
pathogens and post-spillover host adaptation, most notably for viral agents such as SARS-CoV from
Rhinolophus spp. to civet cats to people, but also for bacteria including M.bovis in badgers to cattle to
people. They will increasingly be employed in pathogenesis research of intra-reservoir transmission to
provide decision support tools for preventing spillover to humans or livestock through discovery of novel
targets for diagnosis or control. In particular, new whole genome sequencing technologies will lead to rapid
sequencing of novel emerging microorganisms. Optimisation of in silico design of detection tests or
countermeasures will depend upon the availability of accurate genomic surveys of the natural microbiota
within the reservoirs from which they have emerged. Although currently limited, primarily due to lack of
definition of critical intervention points, there are also examples of biotechnology applications to disease
control in wildlife. The most notable of these is the live recombinant oral rabies vaccine targeting wild
carnivores that has been used extensively and effectively in both Europe and the United States.
There is developing acceptance within certain governments of a level of responsibility for the identification
and management of risks from wildlife to human and livestock health as well as on wildlife populations,
although it is less clear who should share ownership of this. Also unclear is the optimum mechanism for
robust collection, amalgamation, and assessment of surveillance data. The notion that detection of an
unusual event may be the first sign of a major epidemic should always be towards the front of our minds. It is
almost certain that modern laboratory methods will play a central role in characterization, assessment and
management of the next such event.
One world, one health, one medicine
Introduction
World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians – 13 th International Symposium, Melbourne, Australia, 11-14 November 2007
THE OIE CONCEPT OF TWINNING BETWEEN LABORATORIES
G.K. Brückner, World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
The OIE acknowledge that the most effective way to effectively detect, diagnose, control and respond to
animal disease and zoonotic incursions, is to ensure good veterinary governance in Member Countries and
by assisting and enabling them to move towards compliance with the international standards of the OIE.
The OIE has in response to this need secured substantial donor support to embark on a unique strategic
initiative for the assessment and evaluation of the veterinary services of developing and transitional countries
by identifying weaknesses in their system that hinders compliance, prevent the early detection and diagnosis
of diseases and limiting access to expertise to provide scientific justification for certification of animals and
animal products for trade.
A critical prerequisite in achieving this ideal would also be to facilitate and encourage a more even global
geographical spread and access to available scientific expertise and veterinary diagnostics.
Discussion
There are currently 170 OIE Reference Laboratories in 30 countries with 146 designated experts covering 93
diseases. The total number of OIE Collaborating Centres is 24 in 14 countries covering 22 functional aspects
related to diseases and OIE activities. More than 70% of the 170 Member Countries of the OIE are from
developing countries whilst the majority of OIE Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres are
clustered within developed countries within the northern hemisphere. During the First International
Conference for OIE Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres held in Florianopolis, Brazil in
December 2006, delegates unanimously supported a recommendation to establish closer relationships
between OIE Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres and candidate laboratories in developing
and transitional countries. The main thrust would be to encourage a more even global geographical spread
of diagnostic expertise and by that, giving developing and transitional countries more ready access to
scientific expertise enable them to become scientifically competent and to debate on equal footing on the
scientific justification of standards.
To enhance this request for a closer relationship between OIE Reference Laboratories and laboratories such
as national laboratories with a potential of eventually becoming a Reference Laboratory on their own, the
concept of twinning between laboratories was initiated. The main objective of twinning is to assist
laboratories in developing or in-transition countries to build their capacity and scientific expertise with the
eventual aim that some of them could become OIE Reference Laboratories in their own right. To practically
apply this concept, a link between an existing OIE Reference Laboratory with another laboratory in a
developing or in- transition country must be established in a medium to long-term relationship for exchange
of scientific expertise and capacity building. Taking into consideration the current geographical spread and
actual localities of OIE Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres, the twinning concept could imply
a transfer of knowledge, training and expertise from the ‘North’ to the ‘South’ or from an existing OIE
Reference Laboratory or Collaborating Centre of the South to another less advanced laboratory in the South
applying for such assistance.
References
1. OIE, Performance, Vision and Strategy: A tool for governance of Veterinary Services, OIE 2007
(World Organisation for Animal Health), 12, rue de Prony, 75017, Paris, France.
2. E. Erlacher-Vindel, G.K. Brückner, B. Vallat. The OIE Concept of Laboratory Twinning in
Lombard M, Dodet B (eds): First International Conference of the OIE Reference Laboratories
and Collaborating Centres. Dev Biol (basel). Basel, Karger, 2007, vol 128, pp 115-119.
Tues 13 November