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Brucellosis has become endemic in livestock throughout Georgia, especially in the eastern part of the country. Infected animals spread the bacteria through milk or reproductive secretions, which in turn contaminate communal feed, pasture, and water. If undetected or untreated, the disease can spread rapidly among a herd of cattle or sheep. To make matters more difficult, brucellosis can only be accurately diagnosed through laboratory testing. That is why preventive measures such as vaccination, epidemiological surveillance, and proper husbandry practices are key to curbing brucellosis.
Georgia is now fully committed to implementing its National Brucellosis Control Strategy. The FAO project is worth US$ 280,000 and is funded by the Government of Georgia using financial resources allocated under the Integrated Institution Building (CIB) programme.
The disease has a long history in Georgia, said Andriy Rozstalnyy, Livestock Officer at FAO’s Regional Office in Budapest. “Unfortunately, brucellosis was not properly managed or dealt with in the past”. In addition, agricultural reforms in 2005 led to the privatization of parts of agricultural land and services in the country. As a result, the number of staff in the Ministry of Agriculture and veterinary services has decreased.
Controlling Disease
Proper animal husbandry practices and sanitation, vaccines and veterinary support services, as well as regular surveillance, accurate and up-to-date epidemiological information and increased awareness among farmers and consumers, can minimize the spread of brucellosis. FAO addressed these issues through a strategic intervention that laid the foundation for Georgia’s long-term brucellosis control policy and future investments by the government and its partners.
A baseline assessment organized by the project identified priorities, gaps, bottlenecks and opportunities, and the findings formed the basis for a proposal outlining a control strategy, with an implementation plan.
The workshop and related training materials aim to strengthen the capacity of the country’s National Food Authority and other key institutions involved in the livestock sector and equip them with technical knowledge to address brucellosis.
“We presented the measures that other countries have taken to control brucellosis, as well as their strengths and weaknesses,” said Rozstalny. “There is no perfect solution. When moving from one strategy to another, countries need to make decisions based on a range of factors, including the prevalence of the disease, farmers’ awareness of transmission pathways, animal identification systems and animal movements in the country.”
A springboard to more resources
Subsequent government-funded projects worked to develop and implement control strategies and drew on the expertise of a multidisciplinary team (veterinarians and epidemiologists as well as nongovernmental organizations and universities) to spread awareness about brucellosis and how to minimize the risk of infection.
“FAO projects are proven to be useful when countries with limited resources, such as Georgia, use them for projects like this,” Rostalny said.
In addition, the EU has developed a policy support programme for the agricultural sector, which will run until 2015, with a focus on animal health and food safety. The EU has also launched a comprehensive institution building (CIB) tool to help Georgia’s State Grain Agency build its capacity. With funding from the CIB programme, the State Grain Agency has signed a contract with FAO to carry out the initial phase of work on brucellosis, and the brucellosis control programme is expected to be implemented in 2014 and 2015.
“Brucellosis is quite serious in Georgia, but the country is making progress, investing money and increasing the number of people working on this. It is on the right path, but it will require a lot of time, energy, patience and commitment from the government,” Rozstalny added.
Healthy animals lead to healthy lives
Together, these efforts, which FAO has helped to initiate, have contributed to overall improvements in animal health. In turn, they have helped revitalize Georgia’s livestock sector, making it more dynamic and competitive, with significant benefits for the country’s food security and economy.
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