Abstract Title
Evaluation of vaccination strategies against highly pathogenic avian influenza in several countries: impact of the EVACS tool application
Abstract
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is a major threat to poultry production. Vaccination against HPAI was limited to few countries where the disease is endemic and has been applied in France since 2023.
The EVACS tool (Evaluation of VACcination Strategies) has been developed to compare vaccination strategies. EVACS is a simulation tool applied in a participatory approach in order to discuss and validate the results with stakeholders of the studied poultry sector. Initial applications were conducted to compare strategies using vaccines applied at the hatchery level versus at the farm level, and showed the superiority of hatchery vaccination in terms of vaccination effectiveness. Further applications looked at other types of strategies, e.g. strategies applied on different geographic areas or different segments of the production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of EVACS in the decision-making process to implement a national vaccination strategy.
We analysed applications of the EVACS tool conducted between 2015 and 2024 in several countries all around the word: Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Tunisia, France and Spain. The application of EVACS has shown to be useful at various levels. In some countries, the tool helped decision makers to validate vaccination strategies through vaccine authorization, targeted populations for vaccination or selection of vaccine application. In others, EVACS was instrumental in informing poultry production stakeholders about vaccination options within their commercial production network and to leverage discussions on options. This work highlights the importance of public-private partnership to produce vaccination strategies adapted to the poultry sector.
The EVACS tool (Evaluation of VACcination Strategies) has been developed to compare vaccination strategies. EVACS is a simulation tool applied in a participatory approach in order to discuss and validate the results with stakeholders of the studied poultry sector. Initial applications were conducted to compare strategies using vaccines applied at the hatchery level versus at the farm level, and showed the superiority of hatchery vaccination in terms of vaccination effectiveness. Further applications looked at other types of strategies, e.g. strategies applied on different geographic areas or different segments of the production. The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of EVACS in the decision-making process to implement a national vaccination strategy.
We analysed applications of the EVACS tool conducted between 2015 and 2024 in several countries all around the word: Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Tunisia, France and Spain. The application of EVACS has shown to be useful at various levels. In some countries, the tool helped decision makers to validate vaccination strategies through vaccine authorization, targeted populations for vaccination or selection of vaccine application. In others, EVACS was instrumental in informing poultry production stakeholders about vaccination options within their commercial production network and to leverage discussions on options. This work highlights the importance of public-private partnership to produce vaccination strategies adapted to the poultry sector.
Co-Author(s)
Claire Hautefeuille 1, Gwenaƫlle Dauphin 2 and Marisa Peyre 1
1 CIRAD, UMR ASTRE, F-34398 Montpellier, France.
ASTRE, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Montpellier, France
2 Ceva Animal Health, Libourne, France
Abstract Category
Diagnostics, vaccination, or other mitigation strategies for poultry and wildlife