Edition: 13 to 17 March 2023
SURVEILLANCE
 ©FAO/Filip Claes | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION FAO ECTAD receives an innovation fund award and incubation programme
Our two scientists, Filip Claes and Erik Karlsson, have been awarded USD 100 000 to boost disease surveillance and diagnosis through novel technologies. The team will supplement traditional surveillance methods with environmental surveillance and novel detection/sequencing at high-risk human-animal interfaces and will expand this work to hard-to-reach locations to optimize early pathogen detection.
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 ©FAO/Asfri Rangkuti | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION AND THE PHILIPPINES ASEAN’s avian influenza strategy post-2020 Avian influenza is a global threat and a sustainable strategy is a must to minimize its impacts. The FAO Strengthening Mechanism in Animal-health for a Resilient ASEAN (SMART-ASEAN) project supported the Philippines as the lead country to conduct the Second Meeting of the Avian Influenza Group of ASEAN (AIGA) from 14 to 17 March 2023 in Manila, the Philippines. The meeting adopted the framework of ASEAN post-2020 on the prevention and control of avian influenza for further submission to the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Livestock (ASGWL) thanks to funding from the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
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 ©FAO/Batkhishig Oyundelger | MONGOLIA Veterinary helpline to speed up surveillance FAO Mongolia’s Livestock Commercialization Project (LCP) and the State Central Veterinary Laboratory have introduced a veterinary helpline for herders, in operation since December 2022. It is a service dedicated to herders seeking professional consultation or information when there is a suspected case of animal disease. The helpline is designed to receive information and provide consultancy in cases of foot-and-mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants, sheep pox and goat pox and lumpy skin disease. With thanks to the World Bank for supporting this project, the State Central Veterinary Laboratory have received over 300 reports from herders and provided timely veterinary consultations.
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ONE HEALTH
 ©ASEAN Secretariat | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION Working together on One Health in ASEAN FAO attended and provided inputs to the Multisectoral Consultative Meeting of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on One Health, organized from 15 to 17 March 2023 in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting was part of a series of regional consultative meetings to finalize the Leaders Declaration on One Health to be submitted at the forty-second ASEAN Summit. Several ongoing and upcoming initiatives on One Health have been discussed, including the FAO SMART-ASEAN project funded by DFAT. It is a regional project to strengthen ASEAN mechanisms to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic and transboundary animal diseases with pandemic potential.
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AFRICAN SWINE FEVER (ASF)
 ©FAO/Michelle Balbin | THE PHILIPPINES AND ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION ASF support and project inception meeting for the Philippines |
 ©FAO//Joy Masongsong | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION Enhanced collaboration against ASF |
 ©FAO/yOONI oH | ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION AND INDONESIA Initial meeting for ASF project implementation |
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (AMR)
 ©FAO/Asif Jilani | BANGLADESH Building capacity on rational antimicrobial use As a continuation of AMR activities to build capacity and sensitization packages on rational antimicrobial use (AMU), FAO organized a 3-day continuing professional development expansion training on AMU/AMR for human and animal health practitioners from 14 to 16 March 2023. Supported by USAID, the training sought to improve the prudent and responsible use of antibiotics following the antibiotic guidelines developed for Bangladesh.
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| ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGION Fifth meeting of the Communities of Practice (CoPs) on treatment guidelines The Southeast Asia CoPs met for the fifth time on 15 March 2023. Dr Flavie Goutard from CIRAD presented the work of her team, done as part of a Letter of Agreement with FAO Cambodia, to support the development of the Cambodian antimicrobial treatment guidelines. Dr Bengthay from Cambodia’s General Directorate of Animal Health and Production then described the planned structure of their national guidelines, which are being developed. This was followed by a Q&A session to provide further advice and recommendations to Cambodia.
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CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT
 ©FAO/Michelle Balbin | THE PHILIPPINES Training on animal disease preparedness
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PARTNERSHIP
 ©FAO/Michelle Balbin | THE PHILIPPINES USAID steering committee meeting
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