Joint OIE-ASEAN/ADB Inception Workshop on HPAI Control and Eradication in ASEAN
(Jakarta, Indonesia, 9-11 October 2006)
The Joint OIE-ASEAN/ADB Inception Workshop on HPAI Control and Eradication in ASEAN countries was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 9-11 October 2006.
Participants were from ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnem) and International/Regional organisations (Asian Development Bank, ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Foundation, AusAID, FAO, JICA, OIE and USAID).
Welcome addresses were delivered by representatives from ASEAN Secretariat, OIE and Asian Development Bank. Opening remarks were also addressed by Dr Ir Hasanuddin Ibrahim, Secretary General of Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesian Government.
After presentations of international organisations (ASEAN-ADB Project and OIE) and ASEAN member countries, on their projects or situation of HPAI Control, participants were divided into three working groups, i.e. (1) Surveillance System, (2) Information System and (3) Diagnostic System, for the group sessions.
The following summary of final outputs and conclusions as well as recommendations was created by the Working Group 1-3.
<WORKING GROUP 1: SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM>
Within the ASEAN countries there are variations but also similarities in the structure of the surveillance system. However the presence of a large number of poultry in the informal production sector means that there must be a great emphasis on surveillance at this level (‘grass roots’) involving community participation. The establishment of a key contact person at the village level is therefore a key in most countries. In many instances key contacts are volunteers and so training systems to maintain capabilities are a requirement of this approach. Active surveillance involving participatory approaches is also under evaluation in ASEAN. In general the surveillance system is under-resourced in most Member Countries. A linkage of the animal surveillance outputs to the public health surveillance system should be established as the lowest level possible.
Recommendations:
Noting that rapid detection and reporting of outbreaks is critical for the control of this highly contagious poultry disease and for the mitigation of public health risks, it is recommended that:
1) Member Countries should prioritise high risk areas, situations and bird populations to concentrate surveillance resources,
2) Member Countries request donor support to build capacity in the overall disease surveillance system,
3) Member Countries implement a grass roots surveillance system that works best in their environment; for example participatory approach and village volunteer approach,
4) Member Countries are encouraged to link animal surveillance to public health networks at the lowest administrative level possible,
5) The personnel involved in grass roots surveillance must be supported by training and the equipment to undertake their tasks,
6) Member Countries might harness public health volunteers or primary health workers to extend the animal disease surveillance network,
7) Member Countries note the importance of appropriate information, education and communication messages to support the animal disease surveillance system, especially at the grass roots level,
8) Specific surveillance targets such as post vaccination monitoring and border surveillance can be emphasised where required,
9) A regional approach to surveillance is an important shared concern for all Member Countries in the interest of promoting poultry trade. Border animal movement control is one of the important issues.
<Working Group 2: ANIMAL HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM>
The Working Group 2 of the Workshop agreed that the ASEAN Regional Animal
Health Information System (ARAHIS), a web-based information system of ASEAN Member Countries, would be the reporting system on HPAI for ASEAN. The reporting system for ARAHIS should reside at the National level to ensure accurate reporting of disease status through existing National reporting systems.
It is recommended that:
1) Member Countries should provide updates to ARAHIS so that an accurate real-time representation of the disease status is reflected,
2) The ARAHIS should be upgraded to allow seamless integration with reporting system for OIE, the World Animal Health Animal Information System (WAHIS),
3) Member Countries are also encouraged to develop/maintain their existing national animal health information systems,
4) Member Countries may prefer that these systems be linked to the ARAHIS in order to avoid redundancy of inputs and provide up-to-date information into ARAHIS,
5) Member Countries should identify the capacity building needs to implement ARAHIS such as training, manpower and hardware requirements, and consider potential support from various available donor agencies/ countries and trust funds for HPAI Control,
6) Member Countries need to identify the respective National ARAHIS Focal Points,
7) The Regional Focal Point will lead in developing linkage between ARAHIS and
WAHIS to comply with the reporting requirements of the OIE,
8) Linkages with other public and animal health information systems should be explored in the future (e.g. with GLEWS for rumour reporting).
<WORKING GROUP 3: DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM>
The status of the diagnostic capabilities of ASEAN Member Countries in 2006 indicates that the National Laboratory Networks in ASEAN region have been improved in the context that each laboratory has met the minimum requirement for the diagnosis of HPAI. However, the laboratory Biosecurity capacity still needs to be improved in the context of the national quality control/assurance of laboratory diagnosis and on human resources development for Good Laboratory Practice and laboratory biosafety.
It is recommended that trainings and other capacity inputs for laboratory are required, especially in the following areas:
• Laboratory Biosafety requirements
• Biocontainment
• Laboratory Quality Assurance and Accreditation
• RRT/PCR (real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR)
• Sequencing analysis
• NA/NI (Neuraminidase assay/inhibition)
These requirements must be individually prioritised by Member Countries, taking into consideration the regional and international diagnostic resources and expertise already available.