Mesures De Maîtrise De La Brucellose Chez Les Bouquetins Du Bargy Co
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Co-exposureMesures de maîtrise of bees tode stressla brucellose factors chez les bouquetins du Bargy AvisANSES de l’AnsesOpinion RapportExpert Report d’expertise collective JuilletJuly 2015 2015 ÉditionScientific scientifique publication Co-exposure of bees to stress factors ANSES Opinion Expert Report July 2015 Scientific publication ANSES Opinion Request No 2012-SA-0176 The Director General Maisons-Alfort, 30 June 2015 OPINION of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on co-exposure of bees to stress factors ANSES undertakes independent and pluralistic scientific expert assessments. ANSES's public health mission involves ensuring environmental, occupational and food safety as well as assessing the potential health risks they may entail. It also contributes to the protection of the health and welfare of animals, the protection of plant health and the evaluation of the nutritional characteristics of food. It provides the competent authorities with the necessary information concerning these risks as well as the requisite expertise and technical support for drafting legislative and statutory provisions and implementing risk management strategies (Article L.1313-1 of the French Public Health Code). Its opinions are made public. This opinion is a translation of the original French version. In the event of any discrepancy or ambiguity the French language text dated 30 June 2015 shall prevail. ANSES issued a formal internal request on 13 July 2012 concerning the issue of co-exposure of bees to stress factors. 1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE REQUEST Over the last 50 years or so, the number of pollinators has been on the decline in industrialised countries. This decrease seems to have accelerated over the past 20 years, particularly among honeybees in France, with deleterious consequences for plant species and bee products. According to France Agrimer, between 2004 and 2010, the number of beekeepers decreased by 40%, the number of hives fell from 1,350,000 to 1,074,200, and honey production dropped by 28%. As a result, many studies have been carried out over the last few years to understand the mechanisms underlying phenomena such as colony weakening, collapse and mortality observed in most of the countries practicing intensive agriculture, in particular Europe and the Americas. AFSSA published a report in 2009 that highlighted the multifactorial aetiology of the phenomenon: infectious, chemical, physical, climate and nutritional factors, among others. The report concluded that there was a need to evaluate the individual and combined effects of bee and colony exposure to infectious agents and plant protection products, and to undertake research on chronic exposure to pesticides in the presence of latent and recurrent infections caused by various infectious agents that are likely to have potentiating effects. In 2012, ANSES issued three opinions relating to two scientific publications (Henry et al. 2012, Vidau et al. 2011) that reported the effects on bees and/or colonies of sub-lethal pesticide doses in the presence of infectious agents. In May 2012, EFSA published a “Statement on the findings in recent studies investigating sub-lethal effects in bees of some neonicotinoids”. French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, 14 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 94701 Maisons-Alfort Cedex - France Telephone: + 33 (0)1 49 77 13 50 - Fax: + 33 (0)1 49 77 26 26 - www.anses.fr ANSES/PR1/9/01-06 [version c] ANSES Opinion Request No 2012-SA-0176 In this context and given the ongoing studies being performed by EFSA on the chronic effects of neonicotinoids, ANSES’s internal request concerns co-exposure, i.e. concomitant or successive exposure of individual bees and bee colonies to various stress factors, the mechanisms of action and interaction of these factors, and their respective roles in bee colony weakening and mortality phenomena. The focus is on interactions between infectious and parasitic agents on the one hand, and toxic factors at sub-lethal doses, on the other. The other factors, whether intrinsic (genetic makeup and diversity) or extrinsic (beekeeping practices, environmental factors) have been taken into account in terms of their ability to modulate these interactions and their effects. Because of the number of individuals making up a colony and its highly structured nature (for example distribution of work based on the age of worker bees), the effects on the individual bee at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and systemic levels have been considered separately from consequences at the colony level, or superorganism. 2. ORGANISATION OF THE EXPERT APPRAISAL The expert appraisal was carried out in accordance with French Standard NF X 50-110 “Quality in Expert Appraisals – General Requirements of Competence for Expert Appraisals (May 2003)”. ANSES analyses the links of interest declared by the experts prior to their appointment and throughout the work, in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest with regard to the matters dealt with as part of the expert appraisal. The experts’ declarations of interests are made public via the ANSES website (www.anses.fr). ANSES entrusted this expert appraisal to the working group on "Co-exposure of bees to stress factors”, reporting to the Expert Committee (CES) on Animal Health. This group, set up on 8 January 2013 following a call for candidates, was made up of 17 experts with complementary skills in beekeeping, bee physiology and pathology, and toxicology/ecotoxicology, specifically interactions between xenobiotics and infectious and parasitic agents, epidemiology and modelling. The objectives of the working group set up by ANSES to address this internal request were as follows: (1) to better understand the role of stress factors in colony weakening, mortality and collapse phenomena, in particular: • co-exposure of bees to pathogens and to chemical substances at sub-lethal doses, • mechanisms of action including additive and synergistic effects, and potentiation, • the modulator role of other stress factors (genetic factors, nutritional factors, climate, and electromagnetic fields, etc.) on these individual and joint effects, and determine, as far as possible, the respective roles of each of these factors and their interactions, while also taking into account the impact of beekeeping practices and environmental factors. Results of analysis of data collected on the health status of the honeybee population and on exposure of bees to various stress factors in mainland France were examined and evaluated in view of the literature data; (2) to determine whether it would be appropriate and feasible to develop methods that take into account possible interactions between infectious agents and toxic factors when assessing plant protection products, in particular if this were done in a standardised manner. Where appropriate, these kinds of methods could be proposed by the working group; (3) to issue recommendations in terms of beekeeping practices and research. The activities of the working group required 23 plenary meetings between 8 February 2013 and 20 March 2015, and seven hearings with stakeholders from the beekeeping sector. The methodological and scientific aspects of this work were regularly submitted to the CES. The report written by the working group takes account of the observations and additional information provided by the CES members. Page 2 / 11 ANSES Opinion Request No 2012-SA-0176 The final collective expert appraisal report was validated by the working group on 20 March 2015 and adopted by the CES on Animal Health on 7 April 2015. Concerning the bibliographic parts of the report, the expert appraisal approach involved critical analysis by the experts of original scientific articles published mainly in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Older articles were included when relevant. Three subgroups of experts were set up to collect these articles and discuss their relevance. For articles regarding pesticides, specific attention was paid to the quality of the analytical and sampling methods. The literature data were updated throughout the working group’s activities, up to the date of validation of the report. Data recorded in France on the health status of apiaries and on co-exposure to infectious agents and xenobiotics were collected and underwent statistical analysis by ANSES, with regular input from the working group. The results of these analyses were communicated to the working group which discussed them and took them into account when drafting this report. 3. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE WORKING GROUP ADOPTED BY THE CES ON ANIMAL HEALTH 3.1. Summary In its collective expert appraisal report, the working group tasked with responding to this internal request first studied bee and bee colony health by defining, as far as possible, the “normal” state of health of a bee colony, by describing assessment tools for bee and bee colony health and by proposing health indicators that can be used by beekeepers, bee health technicians, veterinarians, and researchers. On the basis of bibliographic data, the working group then presented, in no specific order, the main stress factors to which bees can be exposed and which are likely to induce interactions: biological, chemical and nutritional factors, as well as beekeeping practices, weather conditions and physical factors. Co-exposure and interactions between these stress factors, as reported in the literature, were then studied, after providing the background to mechanisms of immunity