Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) is an arboviral infection of ruminants transmitted by biting midges of the Culicoides genus. Recently introduced into Europe, it caused a major epizootic outbreak in southwestern France in autumn 2023, leading to significant excess mortality among cattle and substantial economic and trade disruptions. In the absence of a vaccine at this time or effective control measures, EHD represents a new health challenge for beef cattle herds.
A representative cow–calf herd stochastic model was developed with Monte Carlo simulation to assess the economic losses associated with EHD. An EHD-free scenario and an EHD scenario were compared, including differences in mortality, calving intervals, and veterinary costs. Variation of the annual gross margin per cow was calculated based on revenues (sale of weaned calves and culled cows) and variable costs. Production and economic parameters were chosen using field data from farms in southwestern France and national technical databases.
EHD leads to a 15% decrease in the average annual gross margin decrease (-€88 per cow-year) in 2023. This loss arises mainly from a reduced number of weaned calves and extra adult cow mortality. The sensitivity analysis indicates that calf mortality, the length of the calving interval, weanling prices and disease severity are the most influential factors.

Health crises demonstrate that managing disease relies as much on information flows as on biomedical responses. Whether accurate or misleading, circulating narratives shape public perceptions, adherence to protective measures, and policy debates, as illustrated during the Covid-19 pandemic, measles resurgences fueled by misinformation, and recurring controversies surrounding vaccines. As a recurrent zoonotic threat that periodically regains visibility, Avian influenza generates episodic waves of media attention and public engagement, making it well-suited for analyzing how health-related narratives evolve. We performed an analysis of Avian Influenza discourses on YouTube using topic modeling approach and sentiment analysis.

Coming soon: Vors, L., Farouk, I., Delon, P., Raboisson, D., Boucher, J.-C., Lhermie, G. (2026) Drifting from health-related information to foreign politics: analysis of Avian Influenza discourses on YouTube

The Global Burden of Animal Diseases (GBADs) program aims to assess the economic burden of diseases through an inovative approach using bioeconomic modelling and new metrics. A compartmental population model was created to reproduce the population dynamic and formalized through a set of equations. Production and economic outputs were then calculated using a robust double step yearly calibration process. The estimated median AHLE per cow-year value and its evolution was calculated for 2020-2024 and range from €1,291 to €1,996. From 85% to 88% of the AHLE is linked to productivity losses due to morbidity. Further developments are required to define the share each disease within the AHLE value.

Coming soon: Giacomini, A., Ferchiou, A., Lhermie, G., Raboisson, D.(2026) A nationwide assessment of the animal health loss envelope in French dairy cattle using bioeconomic modelling.

DairyHealthSim is a new bioeconomic sequential optimization model, and one of the main projects of the team.