Bill Geering, Directeur du Bureau des sciences des ressources, Département des industries primaires et de l'énergie à Canberra a passé six mois à la FAO en qualité d'expert invité, où il a travaillé au Programme EMPRES (Système de prévention et de réponse rapide contre les ravageurs et les maladies transfrontières des animaux et des plantes). M. Geering s'occupait principalement du Programme mondial d'éradication de la peste bovine, une priorité absolue pour la communauté internationale de vétérinaires et pour la FAO. Il avait pour principale fonction de mettre en place un système mondial d'alerte rapide avec l'équipe d'EMPRES - un instrument clé de la lutte contre la peste bovine et contre d'autres maladies endémiques.
Grâce au concept mis au point par M. Geering pour le Système mondial d'alerte rapide, la FAO a pu se concentrer sur la composante réponse rapide d'EMPRES, pour maîtriser rapidement les épidémies. Cela renforcera encore l'un des réels atouts de la FAO dans ce domaine, à savoir sa capacité de fournir rapidement une assistance technique pour répondre aux situations d'urgence dans les Etats Membres. Après l'affectation de l'expert invité, l'équipe d'EMPRES a acquis le matériel et les logiciels informatiques nécessaires et a commencé à dresser une carte des foyers de peste bovine durant la dernière décennie.
El Sr. B. Geering, Director de la Oficina de Recursos Científicos del Departamento de Industrias Primarias y Energía en Canberra, estuvo seis meses como científico visitante en el Servicio de Sanidad Animal de la FAO (AGAH), trabajando en el Programa EMPRES (Sistema de prevención de emergencia de enfermedades y plagas transfronterizas de los animales y las plantas). El Sr. Geering trabajó principalmente en el Programa mundial para la erradicación de la peste bovina, una alta prioridad para la comunidad internacional de veterinarios y para la FAO. Su tarea más importante fue desarrollar un sistema mundial de alerta rápida con el equipo del EMPRES, un instrumento clave en la lucha contra la peste bovina y otras enfermedades epidémicas.
El concepto desarrollado por el Sr. Geering para un sistema mundial de alerta rápida ha permitido a la FAO concentrarse en el desarrollo del componente de reacción rápida del EMPRES para contener el brote de la enfermedad. Esto realzará la capacidad de la Organización para proveer asistencia técnica como respuesta a situaciones de emergencia en los Estados Miembros.
Como seguimiento a la tarea del científico visitante, el equipo del EMPRES ha adquirido los ordenadores y los programas necesarios, y ha comenzado a trazar el mapa de la propagación de la peste bovina durante la década pasada.
Bill Geering, Director of the Bureau of Resource Sciences, Department of Primary Industries and Energy, Canberra, Australia, spent six months as a visiting scientist with the FAO Animal Health Service, working on the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES). Geering was primarily involved in the development of a global early warning system for the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP), a top priority for the international veterinary community and for FAO.
EMPRES is founded on recognition of the need to help countries develop the capabilities for early warning and the need for preparedness for urgent, effective action against outbreaks of epidemic livestock diseases. Emphasis is also placed on the need for international cooperation, at both the regional and global levels, so that coordinated and long-term action can be taken against these diseases.
The concept of a global early warning system for rinderpest was endorsed by an EMPRES Expert Consultation in July 1996. Geering's expertise in the field, matched with the technical capacities and experience of FAO, made it possible to identify the essential elements for such a system.
Great strides have been made in rinderpest control in most regions of the world where the disease is endemic. In Africa at present there are only a few known endemic rinderpest foci, in southern Sudan and neighbouring areas in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, and in an area of northeastern Kenya and southwestern Somalia. In the Near East the main problem areas are in eastern Turkey and Iraq. Endemic foci possibly also persist on the Arabian peninsula. There are still endemic problem areas, and there is also a continuing threat to the countries contiguous to the affected ones.
There is now strong international commitment to the global eradication of rinderpest by the year 2010. At the international level, this involves cooperation among international institutions and regional organizations. At the national level, the strategy involves comprehensive targeted vaccination campaigns and enhanced disease surveillance programmes until the clinical disease disappears.
Geering is optimistic that global eradication can be achieved: "All the technical ingredients are available for rinderpest eradication - an excellent vaccine that confers lifelong immunity, good diagnostics and lack of carrier states in infected animals or reservoirs of infection in wildlife and insect populations. The main problems occur where there are breakdowns in veterinary services and other infrastructure."
The concept evolved by Geering for a global early warning system has enabled FAO to focus on the development of an early reaction component of EMPRES, so outbreaks of the disease can be swiftly contained. This component will enhance one of FAO's real strengths in this field: its capacity to provide technical assistance rapidly in emergency situations in member countries. Following the visiting scientist's assignment, the EMPRES team has acquired the necessary computer hardware and software and has started to map the distribution of rinderpest over the past decade.
Cattle markets are a prime site for rinderpest contagion
Les marchés aux bestiaux sont les premiers lieux de contagion par la peste bovine
Los mercados de ganado son lugares de grave riesgo de contagio de la peste bovina
Bill Geering (left) with other experts at FAO headquarters
Bill Geering (à gauche) avec d'autres experts au siège de la FAO
Bill Geering (izquierda) con otros expertos en la Sede de la FAO