MANUAL ON THE PREPARATION OF NATIONAL ANIMAL DISEASE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANS Contents

W.A. Geering
Consultant, EMPRES/Infectious Diseases Group, Animal Health Service, FAO, Rome
Former Director, Animal and Plant Health, Bureau of Resource Sciences and Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Commonwealth of Australia

P.L. Roeder
Animal Health Officer, EMPRES/Infectious Diseases Group, Animal Health Service, FAO, Rome

T.U. Obi
Visiting Scientist, EMPRES/Infectious Diseases Group, Animal Health Service, FAO, Rome
Professor of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

M-27
ISBN 92-5-104290-X

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Preface

The control and eradication of livestock diseases are primarily the responsibility of national governments whose executive for this purpose is the national veterinary service. Since its inception FAO has been actively involved in the control of livestock diseases and its Animal Health Service (AGAH) is dedicated to this purpose. Over the years AGAH, with the help of expert panels and technical assistance schemes, has played a key normative role in developing standards and policies for dealing with major diseases. The result has been progressive reorientation of veterinary services, education and research so as to ensure an integrated approach to major diseases, to the improvement of animal health and productivity and in the preparation of animal products. In this regard AGAH collaborates with other international and regional organizations, particularly the International Office of Epizootics (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Atomic Energy Agency with which FAO has a Joint Division (FAO/IAEA), regional organizations such as the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources of the Organization of African Unity (OAU/IBAR), as well as with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies.

A characteristic of transboundary animal diseases (TADs) is that they themselves can be the cause of national emergencies and, as this manual demonstrates, their significance often transcends national boundaries. They are of particular importance to food security and sustained economic development and trade for many countries. It is imperative therefore, wherever possible, to limit the socio-economic disruptions resulting from outbreaks of TADs.

The role of FAO in the fight against epidemic diseases of livestock has recently been strengthened with the establishment of the special programme, Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES). Furthermore, the World Food Summit, through Objective 3.1 of Commitment Three of the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the Plan of Action, November 1996, commits governments, in partnership with all actors of civil society, and with the support of international institutions to “seek to secure effective prevention and progressive control of plant and animal pests and diseases, including especially those which are of transboundary nature, such as rinderpest, cattle tick, foot-and-mouth disease and desert locust, where outbreaks can cause major food shortages, destabilize markets and trigger trade measures; and promote concurrently, regional collaboration in plant pests and animal disease control and the widespread development and use of integrated pest management practices”.

It should also be noted that the need for effective preparedness for and response to emergencies, including those caused by pests and diseases, is enshrined in Commitment Five of the World Food Summit Plan of Action, where Objective 5.2 states inter alia that international organizations will “maintain, promote and establish, as quickly as possible, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations and other organizations, as appropriate, the preparedness strategies and mechanisms agreed upon at the ICN, including development and application of climate forecast information for surveillance and early warning, drought, flood, other natural disasters, pest and disease alertness”.

The Manual on the preparation of national animal disease emergency preparedness plans is thus both a reference book for national veterinary services and a contribution of the EMPRES programme towards the fulfilment of a component of the World Food Summit Commitments.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 1999
© FAO

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Acronyms and abbreviations

INTRODUCTION
Animal disease emergencies: their nature and potential consequences
The benefits of animal disease emergency preparedness planning
The principles of animal disease emergency preparedness planning

Chapter 1
A COORDINATED NATIONAL APPROACH TO ANIMAL DISEASE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING
Responsibility
Getting started-obtaining support
National Animal Disease Emergency Planning Committee
National Animal Disease Emergency Planning Officer or Unit
Animal Disease Emergencies as a component of the National Disaster Plan

Chapter 2
ORGANIZATION OF VETERINARY SERVICES DURING AN ANIMAL DISEASE EMERGENCY PROGRAMME
The need for a command structure of veterinary services for emergency responses
Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases (CCEAD)
National Animal Disease Control Centre
Local Animal Disease Control Centres
Difficult or marginalized areas

Chapter 3
RISK ANALYSIS AS A COMPONENT OF ANIMAL DISEASE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING
Principles of risk analysis
Who should carry out the risk analyses?
Risk assessment for emergency animal diseases
The value of risk assessments for animal disease emergency preparedness planning

Chapter 4
EARLY WARNING CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Disease surveillance
Emergency disease reporting and information systems
Training of veterinarians and other animal health staff in early recognition of emergency diseases and collection and dispatch of diagnostic specimens
Farmer awareness/education programmes and other publicity campaigns
Specialist diagnostic teams
Laboratory diagnostic capabilities
International reference laboratories and collaborating centres
International disease reporting

Chapter 5
EARLY REACTION CONTINGENCY PLANNING - PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES
Preventing the entry of exotic animal diseases
General principles of epidemic livestock disease control and eradication
Strategies for epidemic livestock disease control and eradication
Prioritization in national emergency disease eradication programmes

Chapter 6
CONTINGENCY PLANS
Technical contingency plans
Specific disease contingency plans
Support plans
Simulation exercises
Training
The need for regular updating of contingency plans

Chapter 7
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
Collaboration between countries
The role of FAO

APPENDIXES
1. FAO Reference Laboratories and Collaborating Centres relevant to emergency animal diseases
2. Resource list of training aids on epidemic livestock diseases
3. OIE recommended standards for epidemiological surveillance systems for rinderpest and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
4. FAO contact details

Acknowledgements

The assistance of Drs P. Boysen,¹ R. Paskin and M. Rweyemamu of the EMPRES/Infectious Diseases Group, Animal Health Service, FAO in providing helpful suggestions and comments on various drafts of this manual is gratefully acknowledged. The authors particularly wish to thank Dr P. Boysen for his assistance in the compilation of appendixes, organization of the text and selection of illustrations.

¹ Associate Professional Officer.

Acronyms and abbreviations

APHCA
Regional Animal Production and Health Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(FAO)
ASEAN
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASF
African swine fever
BSE
bovine spongiform encephalopathy
CBPP
contagious bovine pleuropneumonia
CVO
Chief Veterinary Officer (or the Director of Veterinary Services or other equivalent position)
ELISA
enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
EMPRES
Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases
EUFMD
European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FMD
foot-and-mouth disease
GIS
Geographic Information System
GREP
Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme
IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency
IATA
International Air Transport Authority
NGO
Non-governmental organization
OAU/IBAR
Organization of African Unity/Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources
OIE
International Office of Epizootics/Office international des epizooties
PAHO
Pan-American Health Organization
PANAFTOSA
Pan-American Foot-and-Mouth Disease Center
PARC
Pan-African Rinderpest Campaign
PPR
peste des petits ruminants
RADISCON
Regional Animal Disease and Surveillance Control Network
RVF
Rift Valley fever
SADC
Southern African Development Community
SPC
South Pacific Community
SWF
screwworm fly
TAD
transboundary animal disease
TADINFO
Transboundary Animal Disease Information System
VAI
virulent avian influenza
WHO
World Health Organization
WRL
World Reference Laboratory
www
World Wide Web