Biosecurity in animal production Chair
Introduction
Improved biosecurity is not only about preventing the introduction and spread of epidemic / exotic diseases that can have harmful consequences for entire production chains (e.g. African swine fever, avian flu, foot and mouth disease,...). It also addresses the daily concerns of livestock farmers in relation to endemic infections that need to be controlled to avoid adverse health and economic effects, as well as the increased need to further reduce the use of antibiotics and improve animal welfare. In addition, biosecurity is essential for the prevention of zoonotic infections (e.g. Campylobacter, Salmonella,...) and thus also benefits human health in a "stable-to-table" approach. While there is general consensus on the value and importance of biosecurity measures, quantifying these effects remains a hugely diverse and complex challenge.
Objectives
The objective of this research chair is to contribute to the study of all components of biosecurity at farm level and throughout the production chain. The animal species involved are pigs, poultry and cattle.
Donor
Period
2022-2025
Supervisor
Prof. Jeroen Dewulf
Jeroen Dewulf graduated in 1998 as a veterinarian at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. He immediately started as a researcher at the same faculty and in 2002 he obtained his doctorate in Veterinary Sciences entitled, epidemiology and control of classical swine fever. In the same year, he also obtained a Master of Science in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics at Utrecht University (Cum Laude). In 2005, he became a diplomat of the "European College of Veterinary Public Health".
Since October 2006, he has been appointed as lecturer and later senior lecturer in Veterinary Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University. Since then he has been responsible for the Veterinary Epidemiology unit. Since October 2014 he has been appointed as Professor in Veterinary Epidemiology. His main research topics are on the one hand related to the prevention of endemic and epidemic animal diseases with a focus on biosecurity measures and on the other hand related to animal aspects that may have an impact on public health such as antibiotic use and resistance and zoonotic diseases in animals. Within the veterinary epidemiology unit he is responsible for more than 10 PhD students. He is (co-)author of more than 350 A1 publications in the field of veterinary epidemiology with an H-index of 50.
Jeroen Dewulf is the responsible editor of the annual BelVetSac report on the consumption of antimicrobials in animals in Belgium and chairman of the JPI-AMR network for quantification of antibiotic use at farm level in animals. Since 2009 he is a member of the Scientific Committee of the FASFC. He is also founder and chairman of the board of directors of AMCRA (Knowledge centre for antimicrobial consumption and resistance in animals). He is also the author of the book "Biosecurity in animal production and veterinary medicine" and the book "8 myths about antibiotic resistance dispelled".
Co-Supervisor
Prof. Van Immerseel
Filip Van Immerseel obtained a Master’s degree in Bioengineering at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) in 1999, and a Master’s degree in Laboratory Animal Sciences at Ghent University in 2004. He obtained a PhD in Veterinary Sciences from Ghent University in 2004. He studied intestinal immune cell infiltration after Salmonella infection in chickens, and intestinal environmental factors influencing Salmonella invasion. After a post-doc period he was appointed as research professor at Ghent University in 2008. Currently, he is a professor at the Department of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Specialty Animals of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Ghent University in Belgium and heads a research group studying host-bacteria interactions. Filip Van Immerseel currently has more than 170 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals, has written book chapters and edited books on Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens and is a well-known speaker at international events. He is editor of the journal Avian Pathology and involved in many international research collaborations.