INSIDE

NEW AND EMERGING DISEASES

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Monkeypox

CONTAGIOUS BOVINE PLEUROPNEUMONIA

CBPPvaccines

RIFT VALLEY FEVER

Rift Valley fever monitoring in West Africa in 2002
RVF surveillance in Iraq (January 2003)

WORKSHOPS

FAO and IAEA Joint Workshop on the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia - TCP/RAF/0172 and RAF/5/053
Final Research Coordination Meeting of the FAO/IAEA Coordinated Research Programme on the Monitoring of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia in Africa using Enzyme Immunoassays

NEWS

Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Other Transboundary Animal Diseases
TADinfo: New Regional TADinfo installed in SADC

COMMUNICATION

Clarifying disease spread in the “Eurasian Ruminant Street”
In brief...

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FAO REFERENCE LABORATORIES AND COLLABORATING CENTRES

NEWS@RADISCON

Inter-Country Collaboration and Coordination Workshop for Transboundary Animal Disease and Tick-borne Disease Control

SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME

19 June 2003 marked 100 days from the World Health Organization (WHO) alert issued in response to an alarming epidemic in humans that had broken out in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Now that the disease seems to be on the wane, it is an opportune time to review what happened. In retrospect, as early as November 2002 cases of an atypical acute respiratory disease of unknown aetiology were starting to occur in Guangdong Province in southern China. The epidemic picked up pace from January 2003, and was at its height from March to May 2003. Infection and disease spread across the world, highlighting the extent of international travel. The countries most seriously affected were China, Viet Nam and Canada.

CLARIFYING DISEASE SPREAD IN THE EURASIAN RUMINANT STREET

The recent incursions of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and other epizootics into Western Europe have demonstrated the need for adequate livestock data to support epidemiological analysis and to define control strategies. In most European Union (EU) countries, analysis is now enhanced by the availability of georeferenced animal identification and registration data and topographical digital charts, which go down to the level of individual farms.

Seasonal grazing availability in 2003 Source: FAO

GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROGRESSIVE CONTROL OF FMD AND OTHER TRANSBOUNDARY ANIMAL DISEASES

The objective of the joint FAO/International Office of Epizootics (OIE - also known as the World Organisation for Animal Health) initiative entitled Global Framework for the Progressive Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Other Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs) is the effective prevention and progressive control of transboundary animal diseases worldwide. The goals of this initiative are to safeguard the livestock industries of developed and developing countries from the repeated shocks of infectious disease epidemics, to improve food security and incomes in developing countries, and to promote safe trade in livestock and animal products at national, regional and international levels.

This issue covers the period January to June 2003.