The first West Africa  FMD Roadmap meeting was held in Togo 7-8 September, 2016. The objectives of the  meeting were, among others, for the countries in the region to have a technical  platform to provide training on PCP-FMD, share information on FMD virus  circulation and assess country progresses using the PCP as a core tool. The  meeting was attended by veterinary services representatives of fifteen  countries, namely; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, The Gambia,  Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra  Leone and Togo.

Opening remarks were  given by representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry  and Hydraulic of Republic of Togo, United States Department of  Agriculture (USDA), FAO, and OIE. Director of Veterinary Service of Togo  commended the organizers for holding this first meeting in West Africa aimed to  develop a harmonized strategy for FMD control in the region. He highlighted that  this meeting is a big step forward for reducing or eliminating FMD virus  circulation by 2025.

The countries were  assessed along the PCP Stages considering the data provided in their PCP-FMD  questionnaires and their presentations. The outcome of the analyses was  presented by PCP experts from FAO, OIE and EuFMD to the Regional Advisory Group  (RAG) of West Africa for final recommendation on countries' PCP stages. The RAG  consists of three Chief Veterinary Officers (Nigeria, Niger and Benin) and  leads of the regional epidemiology (Senegal) and laboratory (Ghana) networks  elected by the participating countries.