Diseases without borders: FAO and the CVP trained more than 40 veterinarians from the Southern Cone in animal health emergencies

November 2022, Buenos Aires, Argentina- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Permanent Veterinary Committee of the Southern Cone (CVP) trained a group of more than 40 veterinarians from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay on animal health emergencies.

The CVP, chaired this year by Argentina’s National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (SENASA), hosted the two-day regional workshop in Buenos Aires. The sessions drew on the results of the Progressive pathway for emergency preparedness (PPEP), a self-assessment tool developed by FAO's Emergency Management Centre (EMC) for countries to develop and improve their capacities to manage animal health emergencies.

The workshop was the closing of a 13-month cycle that began evaluating the capacities of each country's veterinary services. The event received support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

"COVID-19 made people understand the catastrophic impact emerging diseases can have on our normal lives. Over the past 13 months, FAO teams have been working with the CVP on regional animal health emergency preparedness and have designed a first-of-its-kind workshop to strengthen regional capacities and protect their communities from potential public health, food security and economic crises," said Nir Tenenbaum, EMC Global Incident Coordination Specialist at FAO headquarters in Rome.

Transboundary diseases have shown high transmissibility and speed of spread in recent years. Recent cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and African swine fever (ASF) are examples of this. This, together with population growth and the intensification of international food trade, contribute to the speed, reappearance and spread of diseases.

It is the case of ASF, which causes high mortality in domestic and wild pigs. Although it is not transmitted to humans, nor does it affect the conditions of contaminated food products, there is no vaccine against it, and it is highly resistant to the environment. The best solution is prevention, since it can decimate swine populations and has commercial consequences for affected countries.

"Given the experiences learned in recent years, promoting coordinated actions at the regional level is evident.  Globalization requires us to join efforts and build regional disease detection and control strategies. Andrés González, Livestock, Animal Health and Biodiversity Officer of FAO said: “Working with strategic allies in the region allows us to significantly improve our response to animal health emergencies compared to if each country did it in isolation”.

These diseases have a direct impact on animals and an indirect impact on people's lives because of the loss of animal protein. Small-scale family farming can suffer immeasurable consequences when livestock production is affected, especially in small-scale producers, and can affect animal species throughout a country or region.