The state of the art research programme in food safety and zoonoses led by Professor Nigel French focuses on applying molecular and spatial epidemiology tools to understand the distribution and transmission pathways of food-borne pathogens, leading to the development of surveillance and disease control tools for these pathogens. This programme will be enhanced by the establishment of an epidemiological laboratory that combines molecular typing facilities with mathematical modelling of pathogen dynamics.

A key part of the food safety research programme is quantitative microbial risk assessment of Salmonella, E. coli and campylobacter in New Zealand pork products, which will identify the most effective control strategies to minimise the exposure of consumers. Other research includes a comprehensive study of the spatial patterns of campylobacter molecular subtypes in humans, retailed meat products, drinking water, and rivers in a region of New Zealand, evaluation of the sources of cryptosporidiosis strains in New Zealand and evaluating the risk of leptospirosis to meat processors.

SURVEILLANCE

Major focus of EpiCentre research is the development of risk-based disease surveillance tools to facilitate more efﬁ cient use of surveillance resources. Risk analysis procedures are used to evaluate the likelihood of disease, including consideration of spatial and temporal aspects and other risk factors likely to affect the occurrence or impact of disease, enabling increased allocation of resources to high risk groups, and maintenance of a lower level of scanning surveillance across lower risk populations. Portfolio theory techniques are being applied to the allocation of ﬁ xed amounts of resources to risk-based surveillance of various diseases.

The EpiCentre is working together with the Swiss Federal Veterinary Ofﬁ ce to develop EpiManager, a national animal health information system for designing and conducting disease surveillance using information derived from multiple sources.Ways of optimising a national food safety control program are being investigated using spatial, temporal and risk factor modelling. The long term aim is to develop a real-time risk-based surveillance system with the potential to make best use of available resources, provide timely feedback to producers and further reduce the burden of human disease.

GLOBAL DISEASE ISSUES

The EpiCentre is internationally recognised as a leading centre of veterinary epidemiology expertise. Members of the EpiCentre have provided expert advice on disease control strategies and have researched major global animal disease issues, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, foot-and-mouth disease and most recently highly pathogenic avian inﬂ uenza (HPAI).

Application of spatial analytical and multi-level modelling tools helped identify the major risk factors for BSE during the course of the outbreak in the United Kingdom. The EpiCentre developed BSurvE, a BSE surveillance tool, in a project conducted by the European Union TSE Community Reference Laboratory and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency Weybridge, United Kingdom. The model received an excellent response following assessment by the European Food Safety Authority in October 2004 and the methods have also received support from the OIE Ad hoc Surveillance Group.

Disease modelling expertise was used in the 2001 UK foot-and-mouth disease outbreak and the EpiCentre was subsequently contracted to conduct spatial analysis of this outbreak plus the foot- and-mouth outbreak in South Korea.

The EpiCentre has intensively researched the epidemiology of HPAI in Hong Kong and provided expert advice on the HPAI control strategy in this region. Members have also conducted an in-depth review of the HPAI epidemic in South-East Asia, and the EpiCentre has further contracts for research and training in HPAI in Vietnam.

The EpiCentre is involved in a wide range of research activities.

Cattle

• Epidemiology of diseases such as tuberculosis, neosporosis, bovine viral diarrhoea, leptospirosis, Johnes disease, mastitis, lameness, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and foot and mouth disease
• Health and production proﬁ ling of dairy cows
• Speciﬁ c studies such as antibiotic residues in bulk tank milk and anthelmintic resistance
• Development of expert systems for disease diagnosis and production performance monitoring
• Health and productivity issues on small holder units in Indonesia and Thailand

Pigs

• Epidemiology and control of pneumonia, post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS), and other major diseases
• Development of expert systems for disease diagnosis and production performance monitoring
• Health and productivity issues on small holder pig units in Samoa

Poultry

• Inﬂuenza
• Campylobacter
• Health and productivity issues on small holder units in Thailand2

Sheep

• Production constraints such as pneumonia, vaginal prolapse, and anthelmithic resistence
• Salmonella Brandenburg
• Leptospirosis

Deer

• Epidemiology of tuberculosis, leptospirosis and Johnes disease in domestic and wild deer
• Health and production proﬁ ling of deer

Horses

• Performance and risk of injuries in race horses

Wildlife

• Epidemiology of tuberculosis, leptospirosis and Johnes disease in wildlife
• Epidemiology of rabbit haemorrhagic disease
• Surveillance for pathogens in wildlife
• Rabies in Thailand and Bhutan

Foodborne diseases and food safety hazards
• Salmonella, E. coli O157 and campylobacter in pigs and poultry
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Some of the research projects are listed below.

Research
      Research Overview
      ACVSC
      FAO
      BSurvE
      Johne’s Disease and Leptospirosis