With funding from USAID, FAO strengthens animal disease surveillance in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease Control (ECTAD), is organizing a workshop to evaluate the implementation of the Event Mobile Application (EMA-i), an FAO Android application for real-time data collection and disease reporting. Training on the new version of the EMA-i application (EMA-i+) will run until April 12, 2024. 

To optimize the efficiency of EMA-i, FAO launched the revised version of the application, EMA-i+ in October 2022. This new version is already being deployed in several African countries. As such, it will be crucial to assess the current level of EMA-i implementation in the DRC and build capacity to migrate to the new version, EMA-i+. 

Evaluate the current implementation of EMA-i before migrating to the new version, EMA-i+. 

This workshop brings together the main national and provincial players involved in the use of EMA-i in the DRC. The objectives of the event included the evaluation of the current implementation of EMA-i, the presentation of the new version of the application, the training of national trainers and the definition of a strategy for the extension of EMA-i+ to the wildlife sector. 

On behalf of the FAO Representative in the DRC, FAO Resilience Program Coordinator Essotina Tchagnaou affirmed that “since its introduction in 2021 with FAO support, the EMA-i application has become an essential pillar of the Democratic Republic of Congo's national surveillance system for near-real-time reporting of animal diseases”. 

For the Director of Nature Conservation, Patrick Maendeleo, representing the Secretary General for the Environment and Sustainable Development, “it is important to have a system for monitoring diseases in wildlife to contribute significantly to early detection and rapid response to animal health problems at source”. 

The Secretary General for Fisheries and Livestock, Pascaline Mbangu, expressed her gratitude to FAO, through its ECTAD program, for the necessary and significant support it continues to provide to the Ministry, in terms of institutional support, capacity building for agents, as well as equipment, materials and other working tools. “Thanks to this application, The National Epidemiological Surveillance Service (SENES) has been able to considerably increase the quantity and quality of zoosanitary reports, improve communication between those involved in the surveillance network, and enhance their responsiveness to health alerts”, she declared. 

The aim of this workshop is to evaluate the current implementation of EMA-i in DRC and build capacity to migrate to the new version, EMA-i+. It will bring together key national and provincial players involved in the use of EMA-i in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Funded by USAID, this workshop demonstrates FAO ECTAD's ongoing commitment to strengthening animal disease surveillance and promoting a “One Health” approach to preventing and controlling health risks. 

Original story in French : La FAO renforce la surveillance des maladies animales en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) | FAO en République démocratique du Congo | Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture