ANSES and GDS France strengthen their partnership to support livestock farmers and veterinary public health

GDS France and ANSES have decided to formalise the terms of their partnership, initiated over 10 years ago, with the establishment of joint analytical reference and laboratory research activities for various animal diseases of economic interest to French livestock farming.

The framework agreement covers the full spectrum of both organisations’ activities in the field of animal health and welfare, in particular support for epidemiological surveillance and the prevention and control of animal diseases, as part of an overall “One Health” approach.   

Over the last 10 years, the partnership between ANSES and GDS France has seen ANSES’s Niort site (Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort Laboratory, Ruminant Diseases and Welfare Unit) strengthen its activities as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), obtain the NRL mandate for bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) and create an expert laboratory for paratuberculosis. These activities have provided an opportunity to develop and test numerous reagents for diagnosing these three diseases.

The joint research work carried out has contributed to the European Union’s acceptance of France’s IBR eradication programme, the introduction of a sanitation programme for BVD and the development of a dedicated paratuberculosis programme.  These partnership activities were renewed last year, with the aim of sustaining the analytical reference scheme on the Niort site.

Outside Niort, the partnership between ANSES and GDS France has expanded in recent years to include other ANSES sites. A similar collaborative arrangement is being set up with ANSES’s Laboratory for Animal Health (Maisons-Alfort site) to carry out analytical reference work for two other animal diseases: besnoitiosis, and caprine arthritis-encephalitis (CAE) and maedi-visna (MV) viruses. Studies are also being finalised at ANSES’s Lyon Laboratory to improve vigilance with regard to the risk of diagnostic kits being misused in animal health.

The collaboration with GDS France is also an asset enabling ANSES to fulfil its epidemiological surveillance mission, as the National Epidemiological Surveillance Platform for Animal Health (ESA Platform) requires close partnerships with players in the field.

ANSES and GDS France are aiming to broaden their partnership while strengthening ongoing collaborative work with various research laboratories. The various avenues being explored include:

• Continuing analytical reference activities;
• Designing, funding and implementing research projects; 
• Working together to define methodologies to support monitoring, animal welfare and analytical reference work;
• Jointly carrying out studies;
• Sharing and, where appropriate, pooling data and biological materials; 
• Developing common tools;
• Jointly organising actions to disseminate and transfer knowledge;
• Exchanging information about each other’s activities;
• Sharing best practices;
• Sharing experience, knowledge and information on common topics.

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) provides public decision-makers with the scientific benchmarks needed to protect humans and the environment from health risks. It studies, assesses and monitors all the chemical, microbiological and physical risks to which humans, animals and plants are exposed, thereby helping the public authorities take the necessary measures, including in the event of a health crisis. A national agency working in the public interest, ANSES comes under the responsibility of the French Ministries of Health, the Environment, Agriculture and Labour.

The collective health action carried out for the past 70 years by Animal Health Protection Groups and their National Federation, GDS France, has been based on three pillars: surveillance, prevention, and control. Their activities and expertise support the interest of animals, farmers and the livestock economy and help improve food safety for the end consumer. Animal Health Protection Groups work on a daily basis with the whole community of professionals involved in animal health, including farmers, professional farming organisations, veterinarians, engineers and research centres. Their scope covers a wide range of species such as cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, poultry, bees, and those farmed in aquaculture. Through their missions, the GDS France team and its network all aim to achieve a common goal: ensuring the good health of French livestock.