Animal Health

Sustained and safe livestock production for enhanced food security is impossible unless effective measures are in place to guarantee animal health through exclusion and/or containment of transboundary animal diseases and serious pests, as well as the reduction of losses from endemic diseases through health management. The 1996 World Food Summit observed that outbreaks of animal diseases, either those which are of a transboundary nature or the normally present, endemic diseases, can cause major food shortages, destabilize markets and trigger trade restriction measures. Furthermore, the prevalence of such diseases in many parts of the world inhibit sustained investment in livestock production, thus often trapping livestock producers into low output, environmentally unfriendly systems of livestock husbandry. Consumers of livestock products are often put at risk as some diseases affect both livestock and humans, called zoonoses, and represent significant risks for public health.

Countries need to address the key constraints imposed on livestock production by the priority endemic and epidemic diseases, and by the increasing impact of zoonoses on human health and trade. This implies effective disease intelligence, institutional strengthening of veterinary services, regional coordination and collaboration, the development of sound strategies and policies for animal disease management, and facilities for achieving national food security goals. What is required is a high level of planning, disease-control preparedness and a rational balance of animal health services available from the public and private sectors. Those required include curative, preventative and regulatory services.

FAO, through the animal diseases component of its Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES), addresses the epidemic diseases which have the potential to cause serious production losses, constrain international trade in livestock and livestock products, and threaten food security. In order to reduce and eventually eliminate the threat posed by transboundary diseases, FAO assists countries in building their own surveillance/early information system for disease monitoring, as well as provides technical assistance in disease emergencies.

FAO assists national authorities to reorganize their regulatory services in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders; provides assistance for capacity building on policies for disease surveillance, risk management and impact assessment; assists in community-based delivery of animal health and production services and helps promote communication among the private and public stakeholders concerned with livestock production. It provides policy-making assistance for control of parasitic diseases, in particular trypanosomosos and gastrointestinal helminths, including best practices to reduce anthelmintic resistance.

• (Identified) Animal Disease Emergency (TCP)
  
• Control of (Specific) Animal Disease(s) / Capacity Building of the Government Ministry(ies) Responsible for Animal Disease Surveillance, Reaction and Reporting / Livestock Health Certification for International Trade Purposes (TF)
  

• Emergency Assistance to Eradicate African Swine Fever from Country X (Africa) (TCP)
  
• Animal Diseases and Transboundary Pests Control (Africa) (TF)
  

• Animal Production and Health Division
  
• Animal Health Pages
  
• Transboundary Animal Diseases (EMPRES)
  
• EMPRES (Homepage)