MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South American countries coordinate anti-FAM campaign

An assessment mission from the Paris seated International Epizooties Organization (OIE) is currently organizing the monitoring of the High Vigilance Zone, (ZAV) in the heart of South America, where foot and mouth disease is recurrent.

The OIE mission is coordinating actions with the regional Standing Veterinary Committee (CVP) made up of delegates from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, all of them strong beef producers but which have been repeatedly exposed to the consequences of ZAV, a “no-man’s land” with limited sanitary controls.

The OIE mission, divided into three teams is scheduled to begin next week control tasks along the border areas of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay where unchecked cattle movement among countries is quite common.

One of the teams will also visit Paraguay’s animal health facilities as well as labs where FAM vaccines are elaborated.

The OIE final report is scheduled to be officially presented to the CVP mid March in Buenos Aires.

ZAV was officially created in 2007 following an agreement reached by CVP to jointly address the challenge of eliminating FAM in the area.

Paraguay was officially declared free of FAM with vaccination by the OIE in 2005.