4 th FAO/OIE Sub regional Meeting of GF TADs for SPC members Nadi, Fiji, 28 30 th November 2017 Summary Report Day 1 The meeting was officially opened by the Permanent Secretary for Public Enterprises, Ministry of Public Enterprises, Fiji Government Mr. David Kolitagane, Dr Ilagi Puana, Dr Katinka DeBalogh and Dr Caitlin Holley. Session 1 The meeting was briefed on the current global and regional situation for Asia and the Pacific regarding GF TADs governance and the priority transboundary diseases, namely FMD, HPAI, PPR, CSF and Rabies. The 3 rd Evaluation of GF TADs has been completed and th findings will be presented and discussed at the Global Steering Committee meeting to be held in Rome early in 2018. The previous recommendations for the sub region were briefly discussed. Prevention and preparedness as well as capacity building activities are considered the main priorities under GF TADs for the pacific region as the major transboundary diseases are absent. Laboratory capacity and governmental/political support were raised as particular areas where gaps have been identified by participants. Session 2 FAO representative, Katinka DeBalogh updated the meeting on the activities and support that FAO is providing and is available to the pacific region. OIE representative, Caitlin Holley gave an update on OIE activities, including the evolution of the PVS tool, WAHIS renovation and training opportunities in the region. Ilagi Puana updated the meeting on activities being undertaken by Animal Health and production division in SPC and Ruth Garcia Gomez gave an overview of the work being done by Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems division of SPC. The meeting also heard presentations from Kendall Crocker of the Australian Defence force veterinary health services to introduce the humanitarian aid and disaster response work done in the Pacific region and Colin Wakelin who is working on a Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis project under NZ Aid and Fiji Ministry of Agriculture. Session 3 Pacific community members presented on the current situations in the country/territory on terrestrial and aquatic animal diseases, surveillance and disease control activities that are going on as well as the challenges and constraints they face. While there are differences between countries and territories, similar challenges are faced such as limited financial resources being committed to regular disease surveillance and control, limited skilled human capacity and limited training options, limited infrastructure, difficulty regulating and enforcing import/export and border control, even when there is legislature in place.
Session 4 OIE Delegate and CEO of Biosecurity Authority of Fiji, Hillary Kumwenda gave a presentation on the biosecurity practices and quarantine controls in Fiji under the Biosecurity Act 2008. The role of biosecurity is to protect the unique biodiversity of Fiji and prevent entry of unwanted pests and disease while still facilitating international trade. There are over 300 islands that make up Fiji. This poses a challenge to monitor imports/exports and provide resources but is also beneficial in disease control and eradication as it is possible to quarantine and create zones on different islands. Ruth Garcia Gomez then gave 2 presentations the 1 st was an introduction to emergency preparedness and contingency planning in aquatic animal health using a case study of the introduction and detection of white spot syndrome disease (WSSD) into Australia via an importation of cooked frozen shrimp that somehow ended up in a river system near Brisbane and infected wild crustaceans and then spread to shrimp farms. The next presentation detailed the national strategies on Aquatic Biosecurity that have been or are being developed in the pacific region. So far Samoa, Tonga, The Cook Islands and Solomon Islands have developed strategies with the assistance of SPC FAME. Next year Papua New Guinea, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau will start theirs. Participants were then asked to reflect on the days discussions and list 3 priority issues or points that have come out of the days discussions and write them down before the end of the evening. Day 2 The 2 nd day began with a summary of the priorities identified from the 1 st day. These included: Strengthening veterinary services Capacity development/training Veterinarians, veterinary para professionals, aquatic disease specialists, biosecurity officers, laboratory personnel Epidemiology Disease surveillance and notification (national and regional) Survey methodology and sample collection Suggested to have a regional calendar for sampling and testing specific diseases to improve efficiency and information throughout the region. Need to improve diagnostic methods/facilities and access to laboratories Guidance on specific diseases (OIE code and manual as well as practical information/experience) Disease control and elimination
Development of emergency response plans Disease control and assistance with certification of freedom process Strengthen and develop Regulations/Legislation nationally. After this summary the day s session began which was focused on emergency preparedness for exotic diseases. Katinka DeBalogh gave an introduction into the Good Emergency Management Practices (GEMP) manual developed by FAO as well as the GEMP workshops FAO run to assist countries to prepare emergency plans. Ian Dacre, from OIE SEA, who is working on SEACFMD then gave an overview of the current foot and mouth situation in mainland Asia and the SEACFMD campaign to show the spread and trends in FMD in the region. Ian Peebles, the principle veterinary officer of Vanuatu then gave a presentation on the emergency management training that was done in Vanuatu earlier in the year, with an Australian aid funded project. The training went through from developing an emergency management plan in consultation with all relevant identified stakeholders, including plans for specific diseases and how to go about a response with farm visits to look at the real life situations in Vanuatu. Some recommendations on current gaps and works that needs to be done to improve the capacity to respond to an emergency situation was also conducted as part of the training. Katinka DeBalogh then shared her experience of the response in Bali, Indonesia after Rabies was introduced. After these examples and introduction to emergency planning participants split into 4 groups to discuss and plan a simulation exercise. For the exercise each group had to create a potential scenario based on local conditions and a feasible event of an introduction of an exotic disease and how it would be introduced to either a real or hypothetical country or island in the pacific. Once the scenario was agreed and developed, the groups were asked to discuss and plan the first response to the outbreak and then report back to the whole meeting on what they discussed. The 4 groups chose: 1) Outbreak of Rabies in Solomon Islands 2) HPAI in a fictitious pacific island 3) HPAI in Fiji 4) IHHN disease in shrimp During the group discussions several gaps in communication and chain of command with the current situation were noted by some of the participants in their own country/territory and participants agreed that simulation exercises involving more sectors would be beneficial to
strength their emergency management plans and be better prepared for an exotic disease incursion. Day 3 The 3 rd day began with a recap from Dr Ken Cokanasiga on the previous work that had been done and discussion on a regional strategy for the pacific relating to animal welfare in 2015. There was a suggestion to for an animal welfare working group with SPC as the secretariat, however nothing further was developed since then. There is still a need for greater focus on animal welfare, particularly for livestock and animal husbandry and management practices as well as disaster response relating to animals. Participants were asked to consider these issues during the day and discuss after the days sessions on a way forward for the pacific. Caitlin Holley then gave an overview of the current situation and direction for animal welfare from a global and Asia Pacific perspective from the OIE. The 4 th OIE global animal welfare conference was held in December 2016 where some new approaches and thinking to how to address animal welfare were discussed. The idea of One Welfare, similar to One Health which links the welfare of humans and animals and the environment was explored and The POE Global Animal Welfare Strategy was proposed and then finally adopted at the OIE General Session in May 2017. Katinka DeBalogh updated the meeting on One Health related activities from a global and regional perspective and the cooperation between FAO, OIE and WHO in certain areas, such as rabies, influenza and antimicrobial use and resistance. Tomasi Tunabuna and Colin Wakelin gave a presentation on the Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis project that is ongoing in Fiji and how this ties in with One Welfare and One Health. Caitlin Holley then gave a presentation on on farm biosecurity which was also a technical item with surveys filled out by members at the Conference of the Regional Commission for Asia Far East and Oceania the previous week in Malaysia. The results of the survey indicated that there was poor knowledge at the farm level on biosecurity across the region and it is a problem many members face and are trying to improve through communication and awareness at the local level with farmers and targeting training with district and private veterinarians, community animal health workers and others working locally. Improving on farm biosecurity also has other positive effects on general health and welfare of livestock as well as the health and welfare of the people working there as it reduces the spread of both opportunistic and contagious pathogens and improves hygiene. Ways of engaging at the farm level were discussed among participants and recognised as a common problem for all members. The final Session on emergency and disaster response started with a presentation from Major Kendall Crocker on the role of the military in disasters and humanitarian aid as well as the veterinary services in the Australian military and other military operating in Asia and Pacific
region. His presentation involved examples of where the Australian military has been involved in responses in the Pacific region and the Pacific Partnership between several countries. He also explained the ways to engage with the military to seek assistance in a humanitarian crisis, disaster or recovery. Ian Dacre then followed with an introduction to the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) that have been developed to assist people with managing and protecting livestock during humanitarian crises. The manual is free and can be downloaded from the website www.livestock emergency.net. There are several LEGS training options from awareness raising sessions for policy makers, training the trainers and the 3 day in country training. After the LEGS introductory training, participants discussed the topics that had been covered during the previous 3 days and what the priorities for the pacific region should be for coordination on transboundary diseases and other regional issues. The following conclusions and recommendations were reached: