Peste des Petits Ruminants and Rift Valley Fever events 2020-2022 - V. Chevalier by European Commission for the Control of FMD

Livestock diseases have gender implications. Female livestock keepers who make up 60% of the world's poor livestock keepers (World Bank et al. 2009), can be particularly affected and are therefore an important target group for last-mile animal health services. In low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs), veterinary paraprofessionals (VPPs) play an important role for smallholder farmers (SHF) who often lack adequate access to veterinarians. Women VPPs, who are an important channel for reaching women SHFs, often make up only a minority of the VPP workforce and may face gender barriers to accessing training and upscaling their businesses.

An Augmented Reality (AR) tool for mobile devices and the Hololens AR headset has been designed to help educate farmers, stock agents and students to identify key signs of some of the most important emergency animal disease (EAD) threats to the Australian sheep industry - foot & mouth disease, bluetongue, scrapie and sheepox. The tool allows them to scan a room, paddock or any other space and place a virtual flock of sheep, identify symptoms being displayed and guess the disease. An information page is then shown describing the EAD and where to contact if they suspect they have an animal with this disease.

A competency-based approach able to incorporate the knowledge produced by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), is the basis of its new Training System. Organised around sixteen competency packages (CPs), the system aims at developing capacities in WOAH Members to facilitate the implementation of the international standards and guidelines and to strengthen Veterinary Services resilience, in the new contexts and expected roles.

Understanding the level of preparedness to use emergency vaccination for FAST diseases in European countries by Kathy Gibson

EuFMD is conducting a program of work to better understand the role of emergency vaccination for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and similar Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAST) in Europe and its neighbourhood.
Materials and Methods
In 2022, EuFMD hosted two online workshops with participants from EuFMD member nations and other organisations. Participants used scenarios modelled in four European countries to develop a list of criteria for implementing emergency vaccination. Subsequent epidemiological modelling compared the effect of different emergency control measures, including different vaccination strategies, on hypothetical outbreaks of FMD in four different European countries. Scenarios were simulated using the stochastic spatial simulation model EuFMDiS (The European Foot-and-Mouth Disease Spread Model).

The scenarios modelled for these workshops were selected on the basis that they would lead to discussion and were not necessarily ‘typical’ of expected outbreaks in the selected countries.

As Denmark has not had an foot and mouth disease (FMD)-outbreak since 1983, the objective of this study was to use epidemiological modelling to compare the effects of a set of different mitigation measures on e.g. predicted number of infected and culled herds, and epidemic control duration1. The epidemiological impact of basic mitigation measures was compared to additional mitigation strategies on top of the basic measures. Additionally, the geographical influence and the impact of specific cattle production systems as index herds were analysed in terms of the predictive variables.

The aim of our research was to learn and discuss the personal experiences of Canadian emergency management professionals working in a VEOC environment during the COVID-19. The main research questions were:
1. What are emergency management professionals’ personal experiences of working in a VEOC environment during the COVID-19 pandemic response?
2. What are the benefits and challenges emergency management professionals experienced working in a VEOC environment?
3. What lessons for VEOC planning, preparedness, and operations are available from these reflections on the COVID-19 response?

Application of trading zones when managing livestock disease outbreaks has the potential to markedly reduce the economic impact of trade restrictions placed on countries. This involves establishing areas within a country, which are considered of negligible risk of transmitting disease through livestock and livestock product shipments to other areas of the country or internationally. The objective of this study was to estimate the economic benefits of trading zones as part of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control measures for limited duration outbreaks in Australia.

A response system including outbreak investigation, emergency control measures, and risk assessment in the event of transboundary animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF), and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Korea, is describe in this presentation.

Headline FMD events 2020-2022 - D. King by European Commission for the Control of FMD