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The third foot-and-mouth disease roadmap meeting assesses the progress of each country along the Progressive Control Pathway for foot-and-mouth disease and assists in reinforcing national control programmes.
8 November 2021, virtual – Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe highly contagious viral disease that affects cattle, buffaloes, pigs, sheep, goats and various wildlife. The disease circulates in an estimated 77 percent of the world’s livestock population in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and some limited areas in Latin America, and remains endemic in many African countries. It is a transboundary animal disease (TAD) that seriously affects the productivity of livestock and disrupts trade in live animals and animal products thereby threatening the livelihoods of vulnerable groups and food and nutrition security for families, who depend on their animals for subsistence and income.
To reduce the impact of FMD worldwide, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) developed a Global FMD Control Strategy, endorsed in 2012 by representatives of more than 100 countries and international and regional partners. This strategy is implemented at the national level, while its progress is assessed at the regional level through roadmap platforms, which allow the formulation of harmonized programmes and the exchange of information on FMD virus circulation, vaccination and other control initiatives. Regional roadmaps are organized on the basis of coordinated actions within the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs), by the GF-TADs FMD working group in collaboration with OIE and FAO regional offices, regional economic communities, regional organizations with the technical and operational support from the European Commission for the Control of FMD (EuFMD).
In order to assist the West Africa region to strengthen the capacity to effectively respond to this devastating disease, West Africa is holding its third FMD Roadmap meeting, which is being organized by the GF-TADs FMD Working Group. The meeting will assess the progress made by countries in the region with respect to the progression along the PCP-FMD and exchange information on virus circulation, vaccination and other control initiatives.
The third meeting on the West Africa FMD Roadmap was officially opened by Baba Soumaré, representative of FAO’s Emergency Center of Transboundary Animal Diseases in West and Central Africa, who stated that “The objective of this workshop is to share and update information on the circulation of the FMD virus in the West and Central Africa region, assessing the progress and gaps of each country in relation to the regional roadmap adopted in Dakar in 2019, and to bring together relevant partners to help countries strengthen their surveillance, diagnosis and disease control capacities”. Representing the OIE Regional Representation for Africa, Karim Tounkara, added that “Foot-and-mouth disease requires us to pay particular attention to this disease, mostly in the current context of globalisation, where movements of animals and people is continuous. For four days, we will share information on the circulation of the FMD virus, and take stock of the progress made. Therefore, I encourage you to take part actively in the meeting and to bring back all the information collected and shared in this meeting back to your countries to end FMD”. Fabrizio Rosso, Deputy Executive Secretary of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth disease (EuFMD) added that “EuFMD assists countries in progressing along the control of FMD through the Progressive Control Pathway for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (PCP-FMD), virtual learning opportunities, other tools, etc when and where it is needed. FMD impacts the economy of a country and the small scale economy of small farmers and their livelihoods. This roadmap meeting will help us to reflect on the situation of FMD and animal production systems in West Africa countries. It will also help us to reflect together on how quickly the progress along the PCP-FMD can be done”. The Executive Director of the Economic Community of West African States Regional Animal Health Centre (ECOWAS-RAHC), Mrs. Viviane Iwar, explained that for ECOWAS, “FMD remains a concern. The participation of all countries indicates the will to eliminate this endemic disease in the region”. She further explained that “FMD is the cause of loss in animal production markets and livelihoods. There is a need for coordination at regional level to eliminate the disease and to collect epidemiological information on the FMD situation to prevent its spread and to increase its control”.
FAO builds capacity for effective online learning tailored to regional needs
The meeting brought together Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs), laboratory and epidemiology national focal points, from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Togo as well as FMD support officers. These practitioners were connected through the Virtual Learning Center for Southern Africa (VLC-SFS), which hosted the meeting. The VLC-SFS is a platform established in January 2020 as a collaboration of the FAO sub-regional office for Southern Africa (FAO SFS) and the European commission for the control of foot and mouth disease (EuFMD). It has been conceived as a mechanism to improve regional delivery of online training and its primary focus is capacity building amongst veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals for them to be able to recognize, diagnose and control transboundary animal diseases in the region.
The regional consultation assessed progress made and addressed the gaps of each country along the PCP-FMD adopted in Lomé (Togo) in 2016, and discussed ways of strengthening surveillance, diagnostic and control capacities. Furthermore, participants shared the latest updates and revisions of strategies for FMD control and supporting mechanisms for PCP-FMD progression (such as the PCP-FMD Support Officer (PSO) system).
This third FMD Roadmap meeting is the continuation of the conclusions derived from the first GF-TADs meeting held in Lomé (Togo) in 2016, and the second held in Dakar (Senegal) in 2019 where the conclusions were, among others, to enhance national FMD surveillance (recognition and timely reporting) with the involvement of all relevant stockholders including pastoralist communities and to establish a Regional Advisory Group (RAG), the membership of which is elected for a period of three years to support the continued progressing of countries along the PCP-FMD pathway towards the vision of “Absence of Clinical FMD” by 2025.
About the Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs)
The Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) was launched on 24 May 2004 and it is a joint initiative of FAO and OIE, with the expected participation of WHO for the zoonoses, to achieve the prevention, detection and control of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) and, in particular, to address their original and global dimensions.
FAO and the OIE are working together for global control of FMD. In partnership with EuFMD, FAO has developed the Progressive Control Pathway for foot-and-mouth disease control (PCP-FMD), which can help guide endemic countries through a series of steps that will lead to successful control of the disease.
GF-TADs is a facilitating mechanism which will endeavor to empower regional alliances in the fight against TADs, to provide for capacity building and to assist in establishing programmes for the specific control of certain TADs based on regional priorities.
For further information, please contact:
Yanira Santana
Emergency Reporting and Outreach
FAORAF – FAO ECTAD Africa
Email: yanira.santanamorales@fao.org
Nadia Rumich
Communications Officer
European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease – EuFMD
Email: nadia.rumich@fao.org