South American politicians and veterinarians join forces to prevent ASF from entering the region
The Secretary General of the Andean Community, Jorge Hernando Pedraza.The detection of cases of African swine fever (ASF) in America has led to a joint declaration between the member countries of the Andean Community (CAN), Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and those of the Permanent Veterinary Committee of the Southern Cone (CVP) , Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In it they agree to unite their efforts to prevent the disease from entering the region.
The document, which is signed by the Secretary-General of the CAN, Jorge Hernando Pedraza, and the president pro tempore of the CVP, Diego De Freitas, agrees to work in a coordinated manner to strengthen sanitary barriers, mainly in international ports and airports. , improving the control of passenger luggage from affected areas worldwide and in the control of goods received by mail and couriers.
Other points that the statement also insists on are:
- Strengthening surveillance and biosecurity in pig farms, particularly those classified as risk areas.
- The evaluation and strengthening of the diagnostic capacity of laboratories.
- Permanent communication between the Veterinary Services of both blocks.
- Training and continuing education for veterinarians and professionals.
- The availability of specific technical information on official websites.
Technical cooperation
The head of the Andean organization stressed that the aforementioned agreements are part of the technical cooperation agreement signed by the two organizations in March 2020, which seeks to maintain and improve the health status of the nine countries, strengthen the competitiveness of products of origin. animal in international trade and prevent the entry of exotic diseases to the region.
"It is essential that the nations that make up both blocs implement coordinated actions to prevent the presence of this disease, which allows us to be prepared for an eventual emergency situation," said Jorge Hernando Pedraza.
ASF, which had not been detected in America for 40 years, but this July was notified by the Dominican Republic to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The declaration of the Andean Community and the Permanent Veterinary Committee of the Southern Cone recalls that it is an exotic infectious disease, highly pathogenic, transboundary, hemorrhagic, that affects domestic and wild pigs, with a high contagion rate, causing high mortality in these animals. and that, although it is not transmitted to humans, it generates significant direct and indirect losses throughout the production system and constitutes a barrier to international trade.
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