During the “Improving neighbourhood surveillance and European preparedness for Foot-And-mouth disease and Similar Transboundary (FAST) animal diseases” workshop organized by EuFMD in Bari on 24 and 25 September 2019, we had the chance to meet the Dr. Germán Caceres Garrido, a Spanish veterinary, and to have an interesting small talk with him. We discussed the EuFMD FAST disease future work-plan as an important frame to tackle diseases other than FMD in developed and developing countries around the world.

Dr. Germán Caceres Garrido is the head of service of the Epidemiology Department of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fishieries and Food. In his present job activities, his responsibilities are mostly related with risk assessment, communication and management. He started his career on 1999 by obtaining a veterinary degree at Univeristy Complutense of Madrid and suddenly he become a clinician and surgeon for small animals. After this experience, he become an OVs in the United Kingdom working for DEFRA on meat hygiene, disease surveillance and welfare in slaughter houses until 2007, and then started working in Spanish Ministry of Agriculture in the Epidemiology department of the Animal Health Unit. He is also Focal point for the EuFMD since 2016.