NEWS@RADISCON

Surveillance for the eradication of sheep pox from the Mediterranean Maghreb

RADISCON has organized the Second Annual Coordination Meeting on Surveillance for the Eradication of Sheep Pox from the Mediterranean Maghreb, 17-18 February 2000, in Tunis. In view of the recent epizootic of foot-and-mouth disease in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and the first occurrence of clinical bluetongue in Tunisia, the scope of the meeting has been extended to include these two other transboundary animal diseases.

A "journée" during which the problems encountered with regard to the three diseases will be debated in front of an open audience will precede the actual meeting. The four Chief Veterinary Officers (CVOs) and four RADISCON National Liaison Officers (NLOs) of Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco and Tunisia will attend the meeting which will be held on the second day. The meeting's objectives are to:

review progress made in the implementation of the RADISCON sheep pox programme and suggest ways and means of tightening the harmonization of the efforts of individual countries participating in the programme;
report on the current situation of FMD and discuss future national and regional strategies and the benefits of adopting an approach towards this disease which is similar to that of sheep pox; and
assess the risk of bluetongue spread in Tunisia and its possible extension to neighbouring countries.

Communication/extension materials for sheep pox

Posters have been produced in Arabic to sensitize breeders on the importance of mass vaccination against sheep pox during the spring and of reporting any sheep pox suspicion to the relevant veterinary authorities. These posters will be widely distributed in the four countries before the start of the next sheep pox vaccination campaigns in the spring.
A field manual on sheep pox recognition has been produced in French and Arabic versions which, it is hoped, will be extensively used by veterinarians and animal health technicians in order to increase their knowledge and awareness of the disease.

Strengthening the regional components of the Algerian Animal Disease Surveillance System with special emphasis on foot-and-mouth disease

Two training workshops dedicated to the Southern and Eastern components of the Algerian Animal Disease Surveillance System were organized in November 1999 in Algiers under FAO TCP project TCP/ALG/8922 - Assistance to Algeria in foot-and-mouth disease control, following the incursion of the disease in February 1999. Two additional workshops are being organized for the central and western regions of the national surveillance system.

The workshops were attended by 28 veterinarians. The main areas covered were: principles of epidemiology and epidemiological indicators; general concepts of disease surveillance; the national component of RADISCON Reporting System; and the Animal Disease Database, TADinfo-Algeria. Sessions on FMD diagnosis, epidemiology and control were also given as well as a complete analysis of the disease situation, from a regional point of view. FMD outbreak simulation exercises were organized in the field and working groups were constitutedto improve the disease reporting forms used, the sanitary certificates for animal transportation and to study animal movements and propose ways for an effective integration of the private veterinarians into the national surveillance system.

Missions undertaken to implement TADinfo in the Maghreb

Two RADISCON missions were undertaken to Morocco and Algeria in October and November 1999 in order to implement their national TADinfo databases prepared by RADISCON and to review their reporting forms. The nominated operators of the databases have received training on the use of National TADinfo and on its customization in order to adapt it to the needs of their National Animal Disease Surveillance Systems. A work plan for the effective implementation of these databases was proposed, mainly for recording sheep pox and foot-and-mouth disease. Two missions are being undertaken in February 2000 to implement TADinfo in Tunisia and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and to review their reporting forms and systems.

Strategy for the Brucellosis Eradication Programme in Libya

Since mid-1997, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has been conducting a National Bovine Brucellosis Eradication Programme in order to prevent the transmission of the disease to humans.

A Central Committee for the Eradication of Bovine Brucellosis has been established to coordinate the Eradication Programme activities and to supervise the work of the field units distributed throughout the country. The bovine population in Libya is estimated at 153 000 head, mainly concentrated in the north because of its mild Mediterranean climate. The field units are responsible for running screening tests at the farm level, using Rose Bengal test on bovines aged six months and more. Blood samples of animals positive to the screening test are collected and sent to the laboratory for confirmation, using the Serum Agglutination Test followed by the Complement Fixation Test. Positive animals are slaughtered and farmers are immediately compensated. For herds where positive animals were detected, a second screening test is repeated 21 days after the first visit in order to detect any other positive animals which should be slaughtered. If other positive animals are detected, the herds are cleaned and retested three months later and the procedure is repeated as often as necessary until all the animals of the herd test negative. The serology is then repeated six months later and, if no animals are detected positive, the farm is considered brucellosis free. All of the farms are tested every six months in order to maintain their disease-free status. Results for 1999 are encouraging; out of a total of 166 388 animals tested, only 215 were positive.

The programme is reinforced by sensitization campaigns addressed to farmers as well as to the general public, using different communication channels such as television and radio. (Source: The Libyan Animal Disease Surveillance Network.)

Publication announcement

We are pleased to announce that the epidemiology book Épidémiologie appliquée à la lutte collective contre les maladies animales transmissibles majeures, by B. Toma et al., published in 1996, is now available in English under the title Applied veterinary epidemiology and the control of disease in populations.

RADISCON contributed to the production of this valuable epidemiology reference book in order to make it available to the anglophone RADISCON participating countries as well as to other veterinary epidemiologists worldwide. Copies of the book will be sent shortly to RADISCON CVOs and NLOs in RADISCON English-speaking countries.

The book may be purchased by contacting the author direct, Prof. B. Toma at the Association pour l'Étude de l'Épidémiologie des Maladies animales, 7 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94 704 Maisons-Alfort cedex, France (e-mail: [email protected]).

EMPRES ADDRESS LIST

Communication with

FAO-EMPRES, Rome

fax: +39 06 57053023

e-mail: [email protected]

Mark Rweyemamu

Senior Officer, Infectious Diseases/EMPRES

tel.: +39 06 57056772