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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat responsible for 700,000 deaths per year worldwide. There is scientific evidence of the causal relationship between antimicrobial use (AMU) along the food chain and AMR. Improving AMU in livestock is therefore a key component in the fight against AMR. To improve AMU in livestock, there is no one-size-fits-all solution and strategies must be context-adapted and socially acceptable for actors in order to increase AMU sustainability. AMU decision-making is based on an interdependent set of economic, behavioral, ethical, and cultural factors that need to be assessed to advise on the potential impacts of measures. We hypothesized that a participatory strategic planning approach may increase the plausibility and the efficacy of the strategies formulated by facilitating the dialogue between actors of diverse backgrounds, stimulating innovative thinking and constant considerations of contextual factors, actors and impacts. We adapted and applied the ImpresS ex ante approach (IMPact in reSearch in the South, https://impress-impact-recherche.cirad.fr/) within a Living Lab engaging actors from the French pig and poultry sectors in co-creation of innovative strategies towards improved AMU. We conducted semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops between April 2021 and March 2022. The results describe 1) an initial diagnosis of the current AMU situation in the pig and poultry sectors in France; 2) a common vision of the future to which participants would like to contribute through the intervention; 3) an identification of the current problems opposed to this vision of the future; 4) a defined scope of the intervention; 5) a typology of actors protagonist or impacted by those issues and 6) outcome maps to solve a priority problem related to indicators and monitoring. This study provides recommendations for decision-makers on plausible and innovative strategies to sustainably improve AMU in pig and poultry sectors in France and evidence of the benefits of participatory strategic planning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Systems for animal disease mitigation involve both surveillance activities and interventions to control the disease. They are complex organizations that are described by partial or imprecise data, making it difficult to evaluate them or make decisions to improve them. A mathematical method, called loop analysis, can be used to model qualitatively the structure and the behavior of dynamic systems; it relies on the study of the sign of the interactions between the components of the system. This method, currently widely used by ecologists, has to our knowledge never been applied in the context of animal disease mitigation systems. The objective of the study was to assess whether loop analysis could be applied to this new context. We first developed a generic model that restricted the applicability of the method to event-based surveillance systems of endemic diseases, excluding the emergence and eradication phases. Then we chose the mitigation system of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in Cambodia as an example of such system to study the application of loop analysis to a real disease mitigation system. Results: Breaking down the generic model, we constructed a 6-variables model to represent the HPAI H5N1 mitigation system in Cambodia. This construction work improved our understanding of this system, highlighting the link between surveillance and control which is unclear in traditional representations of this system. Then we analyzed the effect of the perturbations to this HPAI H5N1 mitigation system that we interpreted in terms of investment in a given compartment. This study suggested that increasing intervention at a local level can optimize the system's efficiency. Indeed, this perturbation both decreases surveillance and intervention costs and reduces the disease's occurrence. Conclusion: Loop analysis can be applied to disease mitigation systems. Its main strength is that it is easy to design, focusing on the signs of the interactions. It is a simple and flexible tool that could be used as a precursor to large-scale quantitative studies, to support reflection about disease mitigation systems structure and functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Higher poultry population immunity coverage was reached using hatchery vaccination. • Hatchery vaccination protocols provided the highest benefit-cost ratio. • Vaccination strategies including only the most at-risk population were not efficient. • Strategies including the highest number of birds offered the highest benefit-cost ratio. • EVACS tool provides relevant evidences for decision makers to design AI vaccination strategies. France recently faced two epizootic waves of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry (H5N6 in 2015–2016 and H5N8 in 2016–2017), mainly in the fattening duck production sector. Vaccination against avian influenza (AI) is currently not authorised in France even though its potential benefits were discussed during these epizootic events. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential efficiency of different vaccination strategies that could be applied against AI in France. The EVACS tool, which is a decision support tool developed to evaluate vaccination strategies, was applied in several French poultry production sectors: broiler, layer, turkey, duck and guinea fowl. EVACS was used to simulate the performance of vaccination strategies in terms of vaccination coverage, immunity levels and spatial distribution of the immunity level. A cost-benefit analysis was then applied based on EVACS results to identify the most efficient strategy. For each sector, vaccination protocols were tested according to the production type (breeders/production, indoor/outdoor), the integration level (integrated/independent) and the type of vaccine (hatchery vaccination using a recombinant vaccine/farm vaccination using an inactivated vaccine). The most efficient protocols for each sector were then combined to test different overall vaccination strategies at the national level. Even if it was not possible to compare vaccination protocols with the two vaccines types in "foie gras" duck, meat duck and guinea fowl production sectors as no hatchery vaccine currently exist for these species, these production sectors were also described and included in this simulation. Both types of vaccination (at hatchery and farm level) enabled protective immunity levels for the control of AI, but higher poultry population immunity level was reached (including independent farms) using hatchery vaccination. We also showed that hatchery vaccination was more efficient (higher benefit-cost ratio) than farm vaccination. Sufficient and homogeneously spatially distributed protective levels were reached in the overall poultry population with vaccination strategies targeting breeders, chicken layers and broilers and turkeys, without the need to include ducks and guinea fowls. However, vaccination strategies involving the highest number of species and production types were the most efficient in terms of cost-benefit. This study provides critical information on the efficiency of different vaccination strategies to support future decision making in case vaccination was applied to prevent and control HPAI in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of regular and relevant evaluations of surveillance systems is critical in improving their effectiveness and their relevance whilst limiting their cost. The complex nature of these systems and the variable contexts in which they are implemented call for the development of flexible evaluation tools. Within this scope, participatory tools have been developed and implemented for the African swine fever (ASF) surveillance system in Corsica (France). The objectives of this pilot study were, firstly, to assess the applicability of participatory approaches within a developed environment involving various stakeholders and, secondly, to define and test methods developed to assess evaluation attributes. Two evaluation attributes were targeted: the acceptability of the surveillance system and its the non-monetary benefits. Individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups were implemented with representatives from every level of the system. Diagramming and scoring tools were used to assess the different elements that compose the definition of acceptability. A contingent valuation method, associated with proportional piling, was used to assess the non-monetary benefits, i.e., the value of sanitary information. Sixteen stakeholders were involved in the process, through 3 focus groups and 8 individual semi-structured interviews. Stakeholders were selected according to their role in the system and to their availability. Results highlighted a moderate acceptability of the system for farmers and hunters and a high acceptability for other representatives (e.g., private veterinarians, local laboratories). Out of the 5 farmers involved in assessing the non-monetary benefits, 3 were interested in sanitary information on ASF. The data collected via participatory approaches enable relevant recommendations to be made, based on the Corsican context, to improve the current surveillance system., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)