Cure the source, FAO comments on FMD crisis

Effective control of the global threat of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) requires a concerted international strategy to combat and control it at the source, including in particular more assistance to the developing countries where the virus is endemic, said Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) this week.

The FAO Director-General was addressing the International Conference on Prevention and Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease organised in Brussels (12-13 December 2001), by Belgium with the participation of the ministers concerned of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the European Commission, as well as experts and officials from other countries.

"Supporting developing countries to better control and eradicate trans-boundary animal diseases is in the mutual interest of agriculture and livestock in both rich and poor countries,"​ Dr. Diouf said. He added that the European Union, which has recently suffered a serious FMD outbreak, is in a privileged position to promote international action against this disease. Amongst other measures, he urged the international community to establish an effective global information and early warning system on trans-boundary animal diseases.

No region or country fighting FMD in isolation can obtain lasting success, Dr. Diouf said. FMD is highly contagious and the virus can spread very rapidly through movement of infected animals and animal products, as well as contaminated objects (i.e. trucks).

"The last ten years have witnessed dramatic FMD epidemics resulting from the introduction of the disease into formerly free countries,"​ Dr. Diouf said.

This year's FMD outbreak in the UK was caused by the Pan-Asian strain, which is particularly virulent and was first detected in South Asia, from where it has spread to South East and East Asian countries. It has also spread to the Middle East and made incursion into Greece and Bulgaria in 1996, as well as into South Africa in 2000. Many of the countries affected had been free from FMD for many years.

The same strain hit the UK earlier this year, then spread to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. In Europe, more than four million animals were slaughtered in 2001 in order to control the FMD epidemic.

A recent risk analysis conducted by FAO showed that 50 per cent of the risk of introducing FMD to Europe was accounted for in three ways: illegal movements of livestock or animal products; foodstuffs carried by tourists or immigrants; legal trade in animal products.

"Strengthening of national border controls and of commodity inspections alone will not be enough to manage the risk of the international spread of FMD,"​ Dr. Diouf said. " We need a global plan for the containment and progressive control of FMD at the source in the areas where it is still endemic."​Endemic areas are located in Africa, the Near East, Asia and South America.