June 20, 2013

How did the idea of building the GREASE network occur?

François Roger: Historically, Cirad’s activities in Southeast Asia have comprised research and development in agronomic fields (Rubber tree, etc.), including livestock production and biodiversity issues in Vietnam. Cirad’s activities on Animal health and Emerging Diseases were mainly implemented in sub-Saharan African countries and Madagascar, and Caribbean region.

I came for the first time in Southeast Asia in 2003 as an expert for the European Commission in 2003 in order to participate to the evaluation of the OIE/SEAFMD programme. Shortly after the beginning of the H5N1 crisis, I came again in the region for several meetings organized by international agencies. Then, we proposed a first workshop, which was organized in Bangkok to train Southeast Asian veterinarians on diseases surveillance systems. I also started to establish contacts at the national levels.

Thus, Cirad gradually identified partnership and research opportunities to respond to the serious challenges of emerging transboundary animal infections in the countries of Southeast Asia. We built up several research projects and programs with national partners in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with the regional representative offices of international agencies such as the OIE and FAO and other partners such as the Murdoch University in Australia (Perth) and the Institut Pasteur international network. We also placed PhD students in Thailand and Vietnam for fieldwork on avian influenza. This resulted in the creation of several Cirad researchers’ positions in Thailand: I opened an office at Kasetsart University (KU) in Thailand, Flavie Goutard, vet epidemiologist, was appointed at Institut Pasteur of Cambodia with Human Health specialists and Marie-Isabelle Peyre was based in Vietnam. Other Cirad researchers were also progressively assigned to Kasetsart University (Aurelie Binot, Health and Social Sciences), the Asian Institute of Technology (Raphaël Duboz, modeller). Partners in Thailand (KU), the National University of Laos, the National Veterinary Research Institute of Cambodia and the National Institute for Veterinary Research (NIVR) of Vietnam were first chosen for their geographic proximity, the preliminary research activities we had in common and the diversity of their socio-economic contexts. The University of Mindanao in the Philippines shortly after joined the network through collaboration between Cirad and IRD experts on animal trypanosomiasis. It became rapidly obvious that building a regional network would make sense to build on the synergies between different partners.

This coincided with Cirad’s intention to create and harmonize regional Platforms in Partnerships (DP) and thus resulted in the creation of the GREASE network. A first kick-off meeting was held in late 2009 and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed during the 2nd Steering and Scientific Committee in May 2012. Aurélie Binot then became the Coordinator of the Network in 2012.

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Have you identified new partners in South-east Asia?

F.R.: In 2013, identification missions on animal diseases, zoonotic and health were conducted in Malaysia (Oct. 8-11, 2012, F. Roger & G. St-Martin) and Indonesia (Jan. 17-21, 2012, F. Roger & G. St-Martin).

In Kuala Lumpur, meetings with the Veterinary Research Institute, the University of Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the Cultural Services of the French embassy (SCAC) helped us identify interesting collaboration possibilities on existing research projects (REVASIA, Foot-and-Mouth disease, trypanosomosis…) and new topics: Wildlife and rabies. In Malaysia, a mission from a Cirad ecologist, Nicolas Gaidet, will take place in late 2013 to complement this first mission on wildlife issues.

In Indonesia (Jakarta – Bogor – Yogyakarta – Bali), the mission met with the French Institute of Indonesia, Institute of AgroVeterinary Research (ICARD), Veterinary Faculty of the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Udaya University in Bali and the Veterinarian institute of Bogor. Several propositions of partnership under the Global Health paradigm emerged such as collaborating on Bats and Rodents-borne diseases, avian influenza, vector-borne diseases and Climate Change, surveillance systems, rabies, other neglected Zoonoses and training and teaching.

An other mission in 2012 by Nicolas Gaidet, ecologist from Cirad AGIRs, Hervé Bourhry, virologist from Pasteur Institute and Sophie Molia, Veterinary epidemiologist from Cirad AGIRs, had outlined more precisely the scope of cooperation e.g. on rabies: a workshop on this zoonosis will be co-organized in the coming months in Indonesia with several partners including the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) which could become next year a member of the GREASE network.

In 2014, missions and workshops will focus more on wildlife and Health and on Social Science and Health. Southeast Asia is an interesting field for working on the holistic approaches for Health: One-Health and EcoHealth.

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What about expanding toward Myanmar, South Asian countries and China?

F.R.: The GREASE network has already worked in China and Hong-Kong: we developed first collaboration through a first PhD in Vietnam; more recently a PhD thesis (Eugénie Baudon) is co-directed by Pasteur Research institute and the University of Hong-Kong and supervised by Cirad-AGIRs (Marie-Isabelle Peyre) on avian influenza surveillance systems in Vietnam and Laos. In 2013, Cirad’s experts from AGIRs Research unit were also mobilized by WHO office in Beijing during the last H7N9 crisis. 

Short trainings, FETPv (China Field Epidemiology Training Program for Veterinarians) sessions and expert missions (FOA, WHO) were also organized in China these last years by the Cirad AGIRs unit (Flavie Goutard, Marisa Peyre).

Recently, Cirad’s AGIRs Research Unit was selected to contribute to a sino-european Capacity Building Project funded by the European Commission: “Linking Epidemiology and Laboratory Research on Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) and zoonoses in China and EU”. This is a great opportunity to not only participate in regional & international expert trainings (on vaccination, risk analysis…), but also in more comprehensive research activities in China.

One of the key factors for the success of a research network is its coordination. Therefore, given our limited resources, the network should expand progressively and we might only consider its expansion to Myanmar (and why not in Bangladesh and India) later. Preliminary contacts in Myanmar have already been taken. But consolidating our links with insular Southeast Asian countries and South-China provinces where Cirad already works in agronomic fields remains our priority. We look forward to inviting potential future partners to join the next GREASE network activities.

Interview by Sarah Crestin-Billet

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