Biography

Graduated of the National Veterinary School of Alfort (ENVA) in 2004 and holder of a PhD from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse in 2015, Guillaume worked for 2 years as veterinarian of the wildlife care center of ENVA before going for 9 years to North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia as veterinarian manager of birds breeding conservation projects. In 2016, he joined the National Veterinary School of Toulouse as associate professor in zoological medicine and wildlife health, where he teaches medicine of exotic and wild animals. Member of the Wildlife Disease Association, he is strongly involved in sanitary issues concerning wildlife, nationally and internationally.

Research

Research activities of Guillaume focus on studying diversity of wildlife pathogens, especially viral pathogens of wild birds, and understanding molecular and biological mechanisms of pathogen circulation between wild and domestic birds. As part of the Chaire of Biosecurity, Guillaume is particularly dedicated to highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIV), based on the observation that the role of wild birds in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 HPAI epidemics in South-West France are poorly understood. To address those questions, he tries to characterize contacts and shared pathogens between wild birds, especially those of commensal species, and poultry in order to describe their epidemiological role: introduction, maintenance, spread of HPAIV.

Selected publications

– G. Croville, G. Le Loc’h, C. Zanchetta, M. Manno, C. Camus-Bouclainville, C. Klopp, M. Delverdier, M.-L. Lucas, C. Donnadieu, M. Delpont, J.-L. Guérin. 2018. Rapid whole-genome based typing and surveillance of avipoxviruses using nanopore sequencing. Journal of Virological Methods. doi. 10.1016/j.jviromet.2018.08.003.
– G. Le Loc’h, M-NA. Souley, S. Bertagnoli and M. Paul. 2017. Low Impact of Avian Pox on Captive-Bred Houbara Bustard Breeding Performance. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2017.00012
– G. Le Loc’h, S. Bertagnoli and M. Ducatez. 2015. Time scale evolution of avipoxviruses. Infection, Genetics and Evolution. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.07.031
– G. Le Loc’h, M. Paul, C. Camus-Bouclainville and S. Bertagnoli. 2015. Outbreaks of Pox Disease Due to Canarypox-Like and Fowlpox-Like Viruses in Large-Scale Houbara Bustard Captive-Breeding Programmes, in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Transbound. Emerg. Dis. doi:10.1111/tbed.12330
– G. Le Loc’h, M. Ducatez, C. Camus-Bouclainville, J.-L. Guérin and S. Bertagnoli. 2014. Diversity of avipoxviruses in captive-bred Houbara bustard. Vet. Res. 45, 98.