Workshops/Meetings : GF-TADs

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Sixth Meeting of the Lower Mekong Working Group on Foot and Mouth Disease Zoning and Animal Movement Management
(Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 24-26 October 2007)

The Meeting was attended by 42 participants: delegates and observers from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam; Regional Reference Laboratory for FMD in South East Asia in Pakchong, Thailand; Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Australia; Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Project; AusAID Capacity Building for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Project in Vietnam; EU Smallholder Livestock Production Programme (SLPP) in Cambodia; and also from international organisations such as OIE Regional Representation for Asia and the Pacific (OIE Asia-Pacific) and OIE SEAFMD Campaign as well as FAO-ADB Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) Project.

Welcome addresses were delivered by Dr Y. Sakurai, Regional Veterinary Officer of OIE Asia-Pacific, Dr G. Murray, President of OIE Regional Commission for Asia, the Far East and Oceania and Dr Kao Phal, Director General of Department of Animal Health and Production (DAHP), Cambodia, who hosted the Meeting in Phnom Penh. Dr Sakurai welcomed all the participants and noted the importance of the Working Group promoting collaboration within countries in the Lower Mekong Basin finally to control FMD in all over the Greater Mekong Sub-region.  She also expressed the support of OIE Asia-Pacific to activities of the Working Group, as the Permanent Secretariat of the Regional Steering Committee of GF-TADs.  She touched on some recent cases of FMD in China and Vietnam, and stressed the necessity of effective surveillance, early detection and timely notification, which should be facilitated with further strengthening of National Veterinary Services.

Presentations from participating organisations were made by SEAFMD Regional Coordination Unit, OIE Asia-Pacific, FAO-ADB GMS TADs Project, ACIAR Project on Understanding Animal Movement, AusAID CARD Vietnam Project and EU SLPP Cambodia Project.  Each of the organisations reported their recent activities of animal health including FMD control, particularly in zoning and animal movement management in this Sub-region.

The participating countries reported on the recent situations of FMD control in their respective countries. In particular, the participant from Vietnam reported the cooperation plan based on the MOU between Vietnam and Cambodia on Animal Movement Management.

The participants of the Meeting made a field trip to Takeo Province, which is located at the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, and visited an FMD vaccination campaign site in a commune and animal movement check-points within the province and at the border.

A meeting with traders and other stakeholders was held on the last day of the Meeting.  The participants exchanged their views and problems on animal movement management and shared the experience of each participating country.

The Meeting noted the following:

  • The publication of the SEAFMD 2020 document on the eradication of FMD with vaccination by 2020 and that this OIE document has been well received throughout the world and by international organisations as a good model for regional coordination for other diseases;
  • The OIE/AusAID Project on Strengthening of Veterinary Services that commenced in September 2007 for 3 years; the complimentarity between capacity building activities and SEAFMD and a range of other projects such as those handled by Japan, FAO-ADB, French Cooperation and USAID;
  • The most useful outcomes from FAO/ADB socio-economic studies and future work proposals for the Lower and Upper Mekong areas;
  • The success of the Outbreak Investigation courses implemented in south and central part of Vietnam with support from FAO/ADB and French Cooperation through SEAFMD, and plans to hold additional courses in Cambodia, Laos and north of Vietnam;
  • The importance of post-vaccination sero-serveillance to determine the success of the vaccination programme;
  • The OIE/FAO epidemiological tool is available to countries and the training in the use of such tools be encouraged;
  • The progress with the CARD project;
  • Thailand’s commitment to support Cambodia with FMD vaccines to be used in the Cambodia-Thailand border;
  • The progress of the MOU between Cambodia and Vietnam on Animal Health Cooperation, and the proposed programme of Vietnam on the implementation of the said MOU;
  • The recommendation from Cambodia private sector and DAHP to work together to find means to ensure that only FMD vaccinated animals will be sold;
  • The epidemiological training workshops organised by OIE Tokyo, in collaboration with CIRAD and that it could be a key element supporting capacity building;
  • The launching of the ACIAR project on understanding drivers of animal movement, its developments and future underpinning activities to support SEAFMD Campaign and LMWG activities;
  • The implementation of the field activities of the EU-SLPP and that it could help underpin SEAFMD Campaign and LMWG activities.

The Meeting recommended the following:

  • The SEAFMD RCU to explore the possibility of developing guidelines/documentation on approaches to bio-security and bio-safety in the investigation of outbreaks;
  • A further refinement of a draft protocol to manage livestock movement in the Lower Mekong Basin, taking into consideration the implementation of an acceptable quarantine period, animal identification and vaccination;
  • Vietnam-DAH and AAHL to prioritize the review of data to assist and support the Vietnamese Government's five-year plan for control FMD;
  • The SEAFMD RCU and OIE to progress actions in negotiating with private industry for the supply of vaccines to establish an emergency vaccine stock for the region, and the long-term target to establish a global vaccine bank.