Worldwide campaign aims for
complete eradication of Peste de Petits Ruminants by 2030
Abidjan,
Cote d'Ivoire—High-level
authorities from 15 countries pledged on Thursday to collaborate on a global
plan to wipe out forever the devastating animal disease known as “Peste des
petits ruminants” by 2030, a lethal plague for goats and sheep and the scourge
of rural households in vast swathes of the developing world.
Ministerial
delegations, along with more than 300 participants from across the continents,
representatives of regional bodies and international organizations, agreed to a
plan to control and eradicate PPR drawn up by FAO and the World Organization
for Animal Health (OIE) and presented at a meeting organized by the two
institutions with the Government of Cote d'Ivoire.
The
campaign will make PPR only the second animal disease ever to be eradicated,
after rinderpest in 2011. PPR is estimated to cause over $2 billion in losses
each year, mostly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and its elimination will
improve food and nutritional security for billions of consumers and especially
the more than 300 million vulnerable households who keep sheep and goats in the
affected regions.
"We
have a plan, the tools, the science, and the partners," said FAO Director-General
José Graziano da Silva. "Eradication of PPR is not only within reach, but
also in our hands. With OIE, we have agreed to establish a joint secretariat
for the implementation to be hosted by FAO."
"We
can mobilize now public and private components of national veterinary services
worldwide to influence our strategy," stated OIE Director General, Dr.
Bernard Vallat. "Improving animal health is our duty and our
passion."
Eradication
is a ‘bolder next step’
Eradication is a step beyond efforts to control and reduce
incidences of the disease. It is a "bolder next step" in line with
the Strategic Development Goals that the international community is drafting in
2015, which include ending rather than reducing hunger, Graziano da Silva said.
The
plan developed by FAO and OIE is estimated to cost from US$4 to US$7 billion
over a 15-year period. Annual savings generated by eradication are expected to
quickly pay back the investment required. FAO and OIE believe that this could
be done in less time if they have the strong support from governments, partners
and regional organizations.
Moreover,
the campaign will produce very significant collateral benefits, both by
boosting the goods and services of the national veterinary systems that can
control other livestock diseases such as brucellosis or foot-and-mouth disease,
and because eradication of the PPR threat will unleash greater investment in
the sector, improve nutrition, and secure people's livelihoods.
Demand
for meat and milk from small ruminants in Africa is expected to rise by 137
percent from 2000 to 2030, and even more in Asia, according to FAO, and
diseases cripple the efficiencies in reaching these needs.
The
timetable for eradication
PPR
can be eradicated in half the time it took to eradicate rinderpest if the
global strategy devised by FAO and OIE is adequately resourced and
well-coordinated at all levels, with strong political commitment from national
authorities and effective engagement with Veterinary Services and rural
communities.
The
campaign calls on nations to adopt its four-stage approach, beginning with an
assessment period expected to last between one and three years. The second
stage, lasting two to five years, focuses on control and risk management, while
the third is geared to final eradication and will take between two to five
years. The final stage requires countries to document that there have been no
cases of PPR for at least 24 months.
The
first, diagnostic stage requires identifying the numbers and where the flocks are,
where they are most at risk, and also endowing veterinary services with
legislative approval and enabling environment to intervene.
While
voluntary vaccination is always encouraged, the strategy will require
systematic vaccination in the second stage, focusing initially on areas where
PPR incidence is greatest. In the third phase, vaccination is obligatory and
considered a public rather than a private good.
The
eradication campaign calls for immunizing up to 80 percent of all animals, an outcome
that will require vaccination of almost all small ruminants that are more than
three months old.
An
inexpensive, safe and reliable vaccine complying with OIE standards on quality
exists for PPR, and national and regional authorities encourage vaccine makers
to achieve greater capacity while researchers seek ways to make thermostable
versions of the vaccine able to withstand higher ambient temperatures.
About
PPR
PPR
is caused by a virus that can kill as many as 90 percent of the animals it
infects within days, and after a rapid expansion over the past 15 years is now
present in around 70 countries.
The
disease is related to rinderpest, the cattle plague that FAO and OIE declared
eradicated in 2011, thereby ending a primary cause of famine and unrest in
recent centuries.
The
2.1 billion small ruminants in the world - 80 percent of which live in affected
regions - are critical assets for poor rural households in developing
countries, providing quality protein, milk, nutrition, fertilizer, wool and fiber
as well as income opportunities and financial flexibility. (FAO)
Caps:
A
herdsman in Central African Republic prepares to vaccinate his flock. (FAO)
Comments
Post a Comment