Action needed to stop next ‘pandemic’ – pharma boss

A senior vet and business leader has urged the profession to ensure emerging disease threats do not become “the next pandemic” amid enduring fears over preparations for outbreaks.

The plea from Ceva Animal Health’s European vice-president, Loïc Jégou, was made amid renewed criticism of UK readiness and ongoing concerns about several disease threats across Europe.

But while he defended political leaders’ approaches to the issues in a new Vet Times podcast, Dr Jégou warned the sector needs to take the lead in tackling threats early.

Emerging diseases

He said: “The real challenge here is a trend of emerging diseases, vector-borne diseases coming back faster and more frequently.

“What worries me, and what I think we should all focus on, is to remain quick, agile, to support them, get them under control, find a solution, have enough alignment and collective action, and to make sure that none of them is going to be the next pandemic.

“We don’t want any of them to be a COVID experience again. That is the risk we have above our heads, and that’s our responsibility in animal health.”

Enduring challenges

Focus on the available capacity to withstand disease threats has intensified in recent months, amid the re-emergence of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe, plus the enduring challenges from avian flu and bluetongue.

Dr Jégou stressed that significant work had already been done in relation to both the latter diseases and argued the response to them would probably have been weaker before the COVID crisis.

But he raised particular concerns about the capacity to contain avian flu because of its ability to jump from one species to another.

Dozens of cases have been reported in cattle, while incidents in cats and dogs have been linked to contaminated raw pet food.

‘Bigger issue’

Dr Jégou said: “I don’t want to scaremonger, but we are potentially on the edge of a bigger issue and there are solutions to really reduce that risk.

“My main concern is this type of risk, whether it’s avian influenza or the next disease that will come up next month or next year.

“That’s where I think the challenge is, how quick we will be for the next time to step up and control in a coordinated way.”

Broader concern about disease threats was further emphasised by a recent EFRA select committee report, which claimed the UK had only escaped a major disease outbreak linked to illegal meat imports “by luck rather than design”.

Sector responsibility

But, speaking ahead of the report’s publication, Dr Jégou argued the importance of disease prevention was increasingly recognised by governments across the continent, while cautioning the sector had a responsibility to ensure that remains the case.

He said: “Is it understood? I genuinely think yes. It probably wasn’t 10 years ago. I think it is now.

“Is it fighting with other potential priorities on the desks of decision makers? Certainly, it is and that’s where these associations have a job to do, and that includes Ceva, to make sure that it’s not postponed to tomorrow.”

The full interview is available now here on the Vet Times website.