Regional cross-border harmonization workshop on the freedom from Peste des petits ruminants

The FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and the Secretariat of the FAO Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Global Eradication Programme will organize a regional training workshop for countries and territories that have never recently not reported PPR emergence. This workshop aims to build technical knowledge and capacities in support of PPR dossier preparation for participants, with a focus on surveillance and contingency planning. It recognizes the transboundary nature of PPR and emphasizes the importance of consideration of a potential incursion, distribution, and risk pathways at local level or within shared epidemiological patterns and disease drivers, referred to as an “episystem”. 

The event is supported jointly by the European Commission-funded project ‘Support to the PPR Global Eradication Programme’ and a project on the Global Framework for Progressive Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases, funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Languages: English and Russian.

The training workshop aims to achieve the following objectives:

• provide an overview of PPR ‘basics’ (clinical signs, diagnosis, the episystem concept and the PPR GCES);
• describe components of surveillance systems activities that can be implemented to demonstrate freedom from PPR;
• provide an overview of syndromic surveillance as an important component of the surveillance system for PPR;
• provide an overview of emergency preparedness (including contingency) and emergency response plans;
• facilitate an open discussion and tailored technical advice on PPR surveillance, prevention, and emergency response among participants; and
• assist countries and territories in developing workplans (including surveillance workplans) for dossier submission to the WOAH.

The training workshop is also aiming to encourage countries and territories to apply to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) for the official recognition of their PPR-free status, either on a ‘whole-country’ or zonal basis through technical support provided for submission of PPR applications to the WOAH.