Partenariat stratégique entre l’ENVT et le Ceva Wildlife Research Fund pour la création de la chaire mécénale INTERFACES

L’ENVT (UMR IHAP – ENVT/INRAE) and the Ceva Wildlife Research Fund are pleased to establish a strategic partnership to create the patronage chair called INTERFACES. Set within the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), its goal is to support ambitious research projects on viral emergence at the interface between wildlife and domestic animals.

Following the selection process, Dr. Pierre BESSIERE has been appointed as holder of this chair. A veterinarian by training, he holds a PhD in virology. His expertise focuses on the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and their ability to cross the species barrier. Pierre BESSIERE is also very active in clinical research, as well as in mediation and communication on emerging viral diseases.

The vast majority of emerging viral diseases in humans have an animal origin, with a strong involvement of wildlife. Understanding how the responsible viruses evolve and spread in animal populations is the first step in protecting human health. It is in this context that the INTERFACES patronage chair was created.
This chair will focus particularly on avian influenza viruses, interfaces between domestic animals and wildlife, and between birds and mammals.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses H5Nx have likely never circulated as much in wild bird populations as in the past 2 years – leading France to implement a large-scale duck vaccination campaign. This increased circulation has consequently raised the probability of mammals encountering infected bird carcasses, and thus becoming infected themselves. Numerous cases of infections by a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5Nx have been reported in recent years to the World Organization for Animal Health; cases involving bears, foxes, minks, marine mammals, etc. Individually, these infections do not pose a significant threat – although mutations facilitating adaptation to mammals, enabling virus replication in a non-avian host, have often been detected.

However, when transmission chains are possible, the danger is much greater: by circulating from animal to animal, the virus can evolve rapidly, leading to the emergence of viruses capable of efficient transmission between mammals. The research project of the chair will focus on these carnivorous mammals (especially cats), which are located at the interface between wild birdlife and domestic birdlife. By conducting studies on a national scale, it will be possible to determine to what extent H5Nx viruses have managed to infect them and what mechanisms allow an avian virus to infect a mammal.

Concurrently, other emerging or re-emerging viruses in France will be studied such as canine distemper virus, for which increased circulation is currently observed in wildlife and domestic populations, and feline infectious peritonitis virus, for which a more pathogenic variant has recently emerged in Europe. These two viruses pose a threat to wild carnivore conservation, while impacting the health of domestic carnivores. Surveillance projects, coupled with laboratory investigations, would help better understand their epidemiology, especially their circulation at the interface between wild and domestic compartments.

These projects will involve partnerships with a network of structures involved in disease diagnosis or surveillance, such as the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), the Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AVPZ), or the Veterinary University Hospitals (CHUV) of French national veterinary schools. They will also serve as a platform for initial veterinary training, continuing education, and research training (supervising students in master’s programs, veterinary practice theses, and university theses).