CHAPEAU ▶▶▶
Are there any other differences in the approach between humans and livestock? “Take the diagnosis of diseases. As veterinary virologists, we are highly trained to find out what causes a disease. Is it a virus or a bacterium and which one exactly? This is essential to start and im- prove treatment and prevention. If you go to the doctor with a cold or diarrhoea, you are usually advised to wait it out and come back later if it does not get better. Then you get antibiotics. It is not even determined which germs are involved, a bacterium, a vi- rus, or something else. Nor do they prescribe specific antibiotics. “That is no longer done with livestock. We have good and even revolutionary diagnostic technology available to really help vets and farmers. These go one step further than a PCR test. For exam- ple, we have a new technology in our spin-off PathoSense which is already being used in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. With just one test it is possible to see which virus or bacterium is involved and which antibiotic we should use that the bacterium is not resistant to. In addition, the knowledge we have of viral and bacterial diseases is better than in human medicine. We have the advantage of testing directly on the relevant animal species, while in humans it is necessary to work with mice or other animals us- ing an adapted virus. That is a major difference. Plus there is ex- tensive experience with vaccines to control infectious diseases and even eliminate viruses in a targeted manner.”
What else needs to be done? “Much more money is needed for research. Covid-19 is a coronavi- rus. There are many more coronaviruses which are even more ag- gressive, such as the feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus that kills up to 5% of cats. We need to look at that so we can find a vac- cine for those coronaviruses in time. You would hate to think that a virus that is just as deadly as avian influenza in chickens or Afri- can swine fever in pigs could strike humans and for which there is no cure. It would lead to an unimaginable disaster. With African swine fever, you can see how bad it could turn out if you under- fund research. We have known for years that the virus was com- ing. Money has become available but much too late to combat it. Currently, we are trying to empty the ocean with a thimble. African horse fever is also knocking on the door.”
Surely there is a realisation now that money must be put on the table to prevent such disasters. “Let’s hope so. Otherwise, we have learned nothing. Until now, it has always been very difficult to get money for veterinary viruses. Hopefully, this will change because it is really urgent. We should not wait, because waiting is the wrong attitude. I also don’t un- derstand why the health insurance world does not invest more money in better diagnostics. Currently the diagnosis of most viral and bacterial diseases is not reimbursed. It pays off doubly if you can intervene more quickly and more specifically, as we do in ani- mal husbandry. Letting infectious diseases drag on causes many hospital admissions with expensive costs. “In intensive livestock farming, you see that continuous efforts are
8 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 10, 2021
made to increase biosecurity to a very high level. What matters is that we wake up now and start working hard together as human and veterinary virologists. And let’s also realise that as long as there are humans and animals, there will also be zoonoses (ani- mal-to-human) and reverse zoonoses (human-to-animal) at risk of escalating into a pandemic. There is insufficient or misleading discussion about reverse zoonoses. Animals cannot write articles.”
Working together on One Health
Hans Nauwynck argues that human and veterinary virology should cooperate more. “We have to build bridges. This is starting to take off, luckily. There used to be a big barrier be- tween virologists. There was a sense of supremacy among the human virologists. That difference is now largely gone. We find each other more and more. The human sector should take a good look at what we have already achieved in the animal sector. The ideal is to work together on a ‘One Health’ ap- proach. We know that wildlife is a reservoir of viruses. We must learn from each other. We also need to be realistic. In animal husbandry we accept a mortality rate of about 1% which, of course, is not acceptable in humans.”
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