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They call it the Ruminant Road – the movement of animals along roads that start in Pakistan and Afghanistan, head north towards Central Asia and west all the way to Turkey. The movement is extremely fast. A truck full of animals for sale from Pakistan stops at a market in Iran and then continues on its way, and within 24 hours the livestock may have illegally crossed several international borders and reached Turkey. This is the informal trade common in the arid regions of Eurasia, and it is one of the main factors in the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Through its Western Eurasia Foot-and-Mouth Disease Roadmap, FAO is taking an innovative two-pronged approach to tackle the problem, working at national and regional levels to gradually control the disease in the region by 2020.
Across much of Eurasia, half of all cattle, sheep and goats will contract FMD in their first few years of life, with many animals becoming infected more than once. While the disease itself is not necessarily fatal, some animals never fully recover, leading to reduced productivity. Due to the frequency and speed with which FMD outbreaks can spread along ruminant pathways, and the lack of veterinary infrastructure in some regions, FAO is working to support 14 Eurasian countries in developing a common blueprint for FMD control in the region, providing a range of processes and tools to help countries move forward together.
Foot-and-mouth disease is the most devastating livestock disease in the world, both in terms of the number of animals infected and the impact on a country’s economy. It not only threatens the livelihoods of farmers who own infected livestock, but also affects a country’s ability to trade. Western Eurasian foot-and-mouth disease route map With over 100 million cattle and 200 million small ruminants, the scale of the challenge is enormous given their current disease levels.
Countries set common goals
The project, coordinated by FAO and the European Foot-and-Mouth Disease Commission, which is based at FAO, began in 2009 by bringing together 14 of the worst-affected countries to discuss how they could work together to reduce disease levels. By working together, the countries were able to set a common goal – that by 2020 they would reach a stage where foot-and-mouth disease was uncommon and outbreaks could be quickly brought under control.
First, participants used an innovative assessment tool developed by FAO to identify the prevalence of the disease and determine the stage of disease control in their countries. The tool, called the Progressive Control Pathway for Foot-and-Mouth Disease (PCPFMD), enables FAO to help countries set targets and identify the actions needed to achieve them and improve regional communication and confidence.
For a disease like FMD that is contagious across borders, each country’s control plan can be affected by outbreaks in neighboring countries, and a lack of progress in any one region can jeopardize efforts to control the disease across the entire region. Therefore, FAO meets with veterinary officials from various countries every year to assess progress, review efforts by neighboring countries, and support countries whose efforts are at risk of undermining progress.
Vaccination is the first line of defense in the region, but the ability of countries to support vaccination programs varies. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey are the largest livestock-producing countries in the region. While livestock vaccination rates in Afghanistan and Pakistan are only 5% to 10%, Turkey has a vaccination rate of over 92%.
Manage progress
The Roadmap has enabled countries to accurately assess their FMD situation and consider options for controlling the disease. Through both initiatives, countries can now compare their activities and progress with other countries, their control programmes have achieved measurable results, and they also have confidence that there is a common overall vision and goals for the region as a whole. Annual workshops organized by FAO to assess progress on the Regional Roadmap and determine whether it is heading in the right direction have also helped countries to form stronger regional links.
Although it is not yet possible to discern a clear reduction in the incidence of the disease, the initial impact of these activities is very encouraging. Control measures have already led to early warning of new epidemics. They have also led to the development of national working groups to monitor progress internally and improved dialogue and decision-making on vaccination activities and risk management of animal movements.
Since FAO introduced the concept of a progressive control pathway in late 2008, it has become a joint tool of FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for global application. Building on the success in Western Eurasia, FAO is working with OIE to develop sub-regional roadmaps in Africa and South Asia. The goal is to develop a comprehensive set of regional long-term plans that together will form the cornerstone of a global FMD control strategy.
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