INRAE : Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agricutlure,l’alimentation et l’environnement

INRAE

France – inrae.fr

Contact: Mathilde PAUL

Epidemiology, poultry production and pathology

INRAE is in charge of the task dedicated to the analysis of the existing biosecurity databases ; and also participates to most tasks in NetPoulSafe.

When we study farm animal diseases, we find important to consider the complexity of challenges met by farmers in their work and their expectations

INRAE is the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment. It uses research, innovation, and support for public policies as tools to guide the emergence of sustainable agricultural and food production systems. The research unit which is involved in NetPoulSafe is the UMR IHAP (for “interactions between hosts and pathogens”), a multidisciplinary unit which is under supervision of INRAE and the National Veterinary School of Toulouse. As it is located in a veterinary school, the research unit’s activities involve the study of animal diseases, taking into account pathogen interaction with hosts, disease diagnostic and the conditions of its spread. For example, with regards to poultry diseases, it aims at understanding the determinants of biosecurity compliance in poultry farms, in order to increase compliance using farmer-adapted solutions. It also aims at understanding the patterns of regional transmission of poultry diseases such as avian influenza, with the help of models using pathogen genetic data (i.e., genetic sequences), farm network (e.g., truck movements between farms) and spatial information (e.g., ecosystems favourable to wild birds, weather patterns, density and type of poultry farms in the surroundings). The research unit’s staff is also used to disseminating research to a large and diverse audience: scientists, students or farmers.