Animal Health: New Technologies in the Fight Against Disease

To improve the prevention and control of animal diseases, the FAO is now turning to bioinformatics. The goal is to explore the genomes of pathogens and develop high-tech tools to better combat infectious diseases.   The FAO has designated the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) as a new reference center for animal health. This collaboration aims to expand access to cutting-edge technologies in the fight against viral infections affecting Livestock and wildlife, particularly avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease.   Reference centers, selected by the FAO for their excellence in a specific field, provide the organization with scientific and technical expertise, offer diagnostic services and training in laboratories and in the field, and coordinate research and development studies.   A New Area of Expertise The SIB, a leader in bioinformatics, provides high-performance computers, software, databases, and knowledge resources useful for screening and surveillance of zoonotic diseases. Its experts have developed tools for the early detection of diseases and rapid-alert systems for transboundary diseases. They combine epidemiological and genetic information on zoonoses with analyses and modeling of the risks associated with the emergence and spread of pathogens.   Bioinformatics, one of the SIB’s specialties, is a relatively recent science that uses information technology to study biological data. It is used to collect, process, and analyze information on the genomes of viruses, bacteria, and other fungi that cause disease in their hosts. Comparing genomes also makes it possible to identify how diseases act at the molecular level. This information is then used to develop new drugs, target treatments, and make existing molecules more effective.   New technologies are thus set to improve our understanding of the nature and dynamics of biological threats. The FAO, in collaboration with the SIB, is therefore offering veterinarians, laboratory technicians, physicians, and researchers worldwide an online training course* on bioinformatics and viral pathogens. Connected Data SIB databases feed into the FAO’s Global Animal Disease Information System (Empres-i), a web application designed to provide veterinary services with rapid and reliable access to up-to-date information on the distribution of animal diseases—including emerging zoonoses—at the regional, national, and global levels.   In particular, the SIB’s Viralzone database (on viruses),OpenFlu** (on influenza, already connected to Empres-i), and OpenFMD (on foot-and-mouth disease) provide information on the genomes of pathogens, their epidemiology, evolution, and phylogenetic relationships . The goal is to help developing countries contribute to expanding global knowledge about these diseases and conduct risk assessment within their territories. The management, sharing, and analysis of epidemiogenetic data are more than ever a global challenge.   18 Areas of Expertise The FAO plans to designate approximately 50 reference centers for animal health and has identified 18 technical areas in which collaboration with these centers is essential: veterinary epidemiology, biosecurity and laboratory containment, quality control of drugs and vaccines, wildlife health, veterinary public health, the human-animal interface, avian influenza and Newcastle disease, foot-and-mouth disease and other vesicular diseases, morbilliviruses, mycoplasmosis in ruminants, vector-borne transmission of diseases, livestock parasitic diseases, brucellosis, tuberculosis and paratuberculosis, African swine fever and classical swine fever, rabies, and parasitic and viral zoonoses.  

* E-learning course on bioinformatics in animal viral pathogens, via the dedicated Viral Zone website; requests should be sent to [email protected]

** http://openflu.vital-it.ch/browse.php