Fabienne Fecher-Bourgeois

Multidisciplinary and Evidence-based Method for Prioritizing Diseases of Food-producing Animals and Zoonoses

To prioritize 100 animal diseases and zoonoses in Europe, we used a multicriteria decision-making procedure based on opinions of experts and evidence-based data. Forty international experts performed intracategory and intercategory weighting of 57 prioritization criteria. Two methods (deterministic with mean of each weight and probabilistic with distribution functions of weights by using Monte Carlo simulation) were used to calculate a score for each disease. Consecutive ranking was established. Few differences were observed between each method. Compared with previous prioritization methods, our procedure is evidence based, includes a range of fields and criteria while considering uncertainty, and will be useful for analyzing diseases that affect public health.

Estimating the economic impact of a possible equine and human epidemic of West Nile virus infection in Belgium.

This study aimed at estimating, in a prospective scenario, the potential economic impact of a possible epidemic of WNV infection in Belgium, based on 2012 values for the equine and human health sectors, in order to increase preparedness and help decision-makers. Modelling of risk areas, based on the habitat suitable for Culex pipiens, the main vector of the virus, allowed us to determine equine and human populations at risk. Characteristics of the different clinical forms of the disease based on past epidemics in Europe allowed morbidity among horses and humans to be estimated. The main costs for the equine sector were vaccination and replacement value of dead or euthanised horses. The choice of the vaccination strategy would have important consequences in terms of cost. Vaccination of the country’s whole population of horses, based on a worst-case scenario, would cost more than EUR 30 million; for areas at risk, the cost would be around EUR 16–17 million. Regarding the impact on human health, short-term costs and socio-economic losses were estimated for patients who developed the neuroinvasive form of the disease, as no vaccine is available yet for humans. Hospital charges of around EUR 3,600 for a case of West Nile neuroinvasive disease and EUR 4,500 for a case of acute flaccid paralysis would be the major financial consequence of an epidemic of West Nile virus infection in humans in Belgium.

Productivité, progrès technique et efficacité: une étude comparative de 14 secteurs industriels belges

The purpose of this study based on the econometric estimation of deterministic frontier production functions is to examine and to compare for the period 1977-1983, 14 sectors of the Belgian manufacturing industry from a sample of a thousand firms. We are especially interested in breaking down total factor productivity changes into technological progress and changes in technical efficiency, comparing efficiency levels in every sector, and in defining the impact of R-D spending on these performances.

[Cost estimation of an epidemiological surveillance network for animal diseases in Central Africa: a case study of the Chad network].

(1) Ministere de l’Elevage, Direction des Services veterinaires, Service d’epidemiologie, B.P. 750, N’Djamena, Tchad (2) Institut de Medecine tropicale Prince Leopold, Departement de sante animale, Unite d’epidemiologie et de statistiques appliquees, Nationalestraat 155, B-2000 Anvers, Belgique (3) Direction scientifique des laboratoires, Agence nationale de securite sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail, 31 avenue Tony-Garnier, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France (4) Universite de Liege, Departement d’economie, Boulevard du Rectorat 7, B31, B-4000 Liege, Belgique (5) Universite de Liege, Faculte de Medecine veterinaire, Departement des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires, Unite de recherche en epidemiologie et analyse de risques appliquees aux sciences veterinaires (UREAR-ULg), Boulevard de Colonster 20, B42 Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liege, BelgiqueIn sub-Saharan Africa, most epidemiological surveillance networks for animal diseases were temporarily funded by foreign aid. It should be possible for national public funds to ensure the sustainability of such decision support tools. Taking the epidemiological surveillance network for animal diseases in Chad (REPIMAT) as an example, this study aims to estimate the networks cost by identifying the various costs and expenditures for each level of intervention. The network cost was estimated on the basis of an analysis of the operational organisation of REPIMAT, additional data collected in surveys and interviews with network field workers and a market price listing for Chad. These costs were then compared with those of other epidemiological surveillance networks in West Africa. The study results indicate that REPIMAT costs account for 3% of the State budget allocated to the Ministry of Livestock. In Chad in general, as in other West African countries, fixed costs outweigh variable costs at every level of intervention. The cost of surveillance principally depends on what is needed for surveillance at the local level (monitoring stations) and at the intermediate level (official livestock sectors and regional livestock delegations) and on the cost of the necessary equipment. In African countries, the cost of surveillance per square kilometre depends on livestock density.