Disease prevention and preparedness: the Food and Agriculture Organization Emergency Prevention System

In 1994, the Food and Agriculture Organization undertook to revitalise its activities in the control of transboundary animal disease by establishing a new special programme known as the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) against transboundary animal and plant pests and diseases. The emphasis of the EMPRES livestock component is placed on pre-empting outbreaks and losses experienced by agriculture through the enhancement of local capacity to detect and react rapidly to plague events. EMPRES concentrates on the co-ordination of the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme - a time-bound eradication programme whilst addressing the progressive control of the most serious epidemic diseases within a broad framework of emergency preparedness. Programme activities are discussed in relation to early warning, early reaction, facilitating research and co-ordination. In addition to rinderpest, particular attention has been paid to contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, a re-emerging disease in Africa targeted for strategic attention, and foot and mouth disease, for which co-ordinated regional control in Latin America and South-East Asia has been initiated. Tactical responses to other disease emergencies such as African swine fever, classical swine fever (hog cholera), Rift Valley fever, peste des petits ruminants and lumpy skin disease are described.