African UnionInterafrican Bureau for Animal Resources

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MAINTAINING FREEDOM FROM RINDERPEST IN AFRICA

Maintaining Global Freedom from RinderpestInternational Meeting

Rome, Italy 20 – 22 January 2016

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Outline

• AU-IBAR Mandate• Eradication of Rinderpest• Post Rinderpest Exit Strategy• Recommendations from SERECU• Political commitments• Support to Member States for disease

surveillance and control• Conclusion

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AU-IBAR Mandate

• A specialized technical office of the African Union Commission under the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture

• Mandated to support and coordinate the utilization of animals (livestock, fisheries and wildlife) as a resource for human wellbeing in the AU Member States, and to contribute to economic development, particularly in the rural areas

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ERADICATION OF RINDERPEST

SERECU2006-2010

€4M

PARC1986-1998

€115

1951 – Present day IBARCreated to address

Rinderpest on the continent

JP 151962-1975

$51M

PACE1999-2007

€ 77M

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Achievements of SERECU

• Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia verified free from Rinderpest

• SERECU exit strategy prepared to assure eradication sustained– Rinderpest virus destruction and sequestration in

safe repositories– Global verification exercise by FAO-GREP and OIE – Continued vigilance and response capacity

• Documentation of History of rinderpest eradication in Africa and socio-economic impact studies.

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POST RINDERPEST EXIT STRATEGY

• The OIE rinderpest pathway criteria rendered the risk of persisting wild rinderpest virus negligible in accredited countries.

• Concern: What is the worst that could happen? - and how to protect against it?

• 2 broad categories of risk:1. risks that remained despite the OIE pathway having

been complied with, and;2. risks that remained because some countries did not

follow the pathway correctly or the pathway had not delivered the confidence it was designed to do.

 IBAR was concerned with risk 1; risk 2 addressed by OIE/FAO leading to global declaration of freedom in 2011

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Perceived Hazards/Threats of Continued Rinderpest Activity?

A. Deep frozen virus :– in Veterinary Laboratories in pathological specimens, wet

and freeze-dried virus isolates.B. Vaccine virus:

– Stored in national, regional or field veterinary laboratories.

C. Wild rinderpest virus persists:– As subclinical/mild disease in pockets where serological

surveillance was incomplete for reasons such as insecurity and uncontrolled transboundary movements of livestock.

D. Threats to cattle from other morbilliviruses (other viruses emerge/adapt to fill the niche left vacant by rinderpest eradication). - PPR jumps species to cattle;- New morbilliviruses emerge.

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Recommended Responses to Threats

RP virus materials: programme to remove existing rinderpest

viruses from all but essential and carefully controlled locations (being addressed globally by OIE/FAO and AU-PANVAC in Africa)

Wild RP and other morbilliviruses: A surveillance strategy that would be

sustainable in the post-rinderpest world, but effective at detecting any re-emergence of rinderpest or rinderpest-like syndromes

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What Surveillance Strategy?

• Random sample sero-surveillance had done its job at the end of the OIE pathway and the declaration of Global freedom from Rinderpest.

• Continued sero-surveillance for rinderpest had little on-going value for livestock owners.

• Need to focus on strengthening syndromic surveillance as a risk mitigation measure, linked to differential diagnosis and remedial action against other diseases to support livestock owners.

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Syndromic Surveillance: Where and How?

• The Somali Ecosystem of immediate concern as the most likely possible focus of infection

• A larger area (IGAD & EAC) to be included due to the large ruminant population and the desire to export livestock commodities from the regions

• The Exit Strategy proposed to provide continued surveillance for rinderpest through a programme that includes trade sensitive diseases

• All livestock value chain actors to benefit as the surveillance would contribute to livestock disease control and marketing programmes

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Syndromic Surveillance: Achieve What?

Proposed syndromic surveillance programme to:• support control of diseases affecting export trade• control two important zoonoses • ensure vigilance against rinderpest; in case of an

outbreak, enable rapid stamping out through early warning, emergency preparedness and contingency planning (including immediate access to vaccine), and return to a disease free status

• support the needs of all livestock value chain actors• introduce conditions for a livestock export market

to encourage investments in the livestock sector

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Syndromic Surveillance: What Syndromes?

1.Stomatitis-enteritis syndrome or rinderpest-like conditions which include trade-sensitive diseases (PPR; FMD)

2.A pneumonia syndrome to include the trade-sensitive pleuropneumonias (CBPP and CCPP)

3.An abortion syndrome to include brucellosis & RVF (important for trade and as zoonoses)

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Recommendations from SERECU

Although rinderpest is now eradicated from Africa, other TADs continue to erode the continent’s ability to access lucrative livestock export markets. Strategies for the progressive control of these diseases and continued vigilance for rinderpest re-emergence are needed:1.Establishment of an effective syndromic surveillance system for TADs that links key stakeholders for exchange of information and for expeditious emergency responses2.All the rinderpest virus strains held in laboratories in Africa should be destroyed or kept in high biosecurity facilities to reduce the chances of virus escape

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Political Commitments

Achievements in RP eradication, SERECU Exit Strategy and Recommendations presented to 8th Conference of Ministers for animal resources in Africa (May 2010). THEME: “Improving access to markets for African animal resources to significantly contribute to economic growth and reduction of poverty”

The Ministers recommended the destruction of rinderpest virus materials or their sequestration in secure facilities at AU-PANVACEndorsed by Heads State and Government in January 2011Capacity of AU-PANVAC for containment of rinderpest virus materials appropriately strengthened.

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Support to Member States for Disease Surveillance and control

AU-IBAR supporting the IGAD region to enhance TADs surveillance and control through the SMP-AH and STSD projects (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) and Tanzania.

Entails development of standard methods and procedures (SMPs) for harmonization of surveillance, diagnostic and control actions against priority TADs.

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

What is an SMP?Operational protocol to create uniformity in disease detection and control procedures in the participating countries.

Outlines measures that must be undertaken in surveillance, epidemiology, laboratory procedures, disease control and export quarantine operations.

States minimum standards, procedures, and goals for a harmonised regional control of the disease in line with OIE standards and the regional context

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Eleven SMPs including Rinderpest developed by experts, validated and adopted by MS of the IGAD region and Tanzania

AU-IBAR is now supporting the SADC Region to adopt the SMP approach. ECOWAS also interested

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

Participants of the SMP validation workshop held at AU-IBAR, Nairobi, Kenya, 30th July-1st August, 2014

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

The validated SMP for Rinderpest

Support for Surveillance and laboratory diagnosis is being provided to SMP-AH participating countries to support harmonisation of disease prevention and control using the SMP approach

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

Capacity building and awareness creation to enhance passive surveillance for TADs by grassroots stakeholders

Pictorial Manual on syndromic surveillance to support passive surveillance and assist disease recognition and reporting has been published.

Discussion on disease recognition and reporting using the Syndromic manual with livestock traders in Adama, Ethiopia

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Supporting cross border activities for coordination and harmonisation of prevention and control TADs in the GHoA

Countries share knowledge, exchange experiences, good practices and lessons learned in disease surveillance and control.

Agree on joint implementation work plans in local cross border areas to address TADs

Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

Closing Ceremony for the Surveillance and Epidemiology Course (13 Weeks training course)

Capacity building in Surveillance and epidemiology of TADs

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

The closing ceremony for the Management Skills development course (18 weeks course)

Capacity building in Management Skills Development to support delivery of veterinary services in support of control of TADs

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AU-IBAR also supporting IGAD MS to coordinate TADs control efforts under the Surveillance for Trade sensitve diseases (STSD) project

Complements the SMP-AH project

Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

PPR/SRDs-CCC Members

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Support to Member States for disease surveillance and control….

AU-IBAR is also providing specific support to Somalia through the EU funded Project for Reinforcing Animal Health Services in Somalia (RAHS)

The project is addressing:• Capacity of Public institutions to deliver and regulate

animal health services.• Public, private and community partnerships in animal

health services delivery • Improving surveillance and control systems for trade

sensitive diseases

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Conclusion

The African Union Commission has demonstrated commitment to destruction/sequestration of rinderpest virus materials and the assurance of continued freedom from rinderpest by:

- securing political commitment at the highest levels of Government on the destruction and sequestration of rinderpest virus materials (AU-IBAR and AU-PANVAC)

- Mobilizing resources to enhance syndromic surveillance for TADs mainly in the IGAD MS and Tanzania

- Working closely with RECs and MS to engage existing technical capacities for more effective surveillance, prevention, control and reporting of TADs.

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Thank You

AU-IBAR: Providing leadership in the development of animal resources for Africa

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