Presentation made during the international meeting titled “Maintaining global freedom from rinderpest” held in FAO-HQ from 20 to 22 January 2016. © FAO: http://www.fao.org

1. African Union
Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources
www.au-ibar.org
MAINTAINING FREEDOM FROM
RINDERPEST IN AFRICA
Maintaining Global Freedom from
Rinderpest
International Meeting
Rome, Italy 20 – 22 January 2016

2. www.au-ibar.org
Outline
• AU-IBAR Mandate
• Eradication of Rinderpest
• Post Rinderpest Exit Strategy
• Recommendations from SERECU
• Political commitments
• Support to Member States for disease
surveillance and control
• Conclusion
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3. www.au-ibar.org
AU-IBAR Mandate
• A specialized technical office of the
African Union Commission under the
Department of Rural Economy and
Agriculture
• Mandated to support and coordinate the
utilization of animals (livestock, fisheries
and wildlife) as a resource for human
wellbeing in the AU Member States, and
to contribute to economic development,
particularly in the rural areas
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ERADICATION OF RINDERPEST
SERECU
2006-2010
€4M
PARC
1986-1998
€115
1951 – Present day IBAR
Created to address
Rinderpest on the continent
JP 15
1962-1975
$51M
PACE
1999-2007
€ 77M

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Achievements of SERECU
• Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia verified free
from Rinderpest
• SERECU exit strategy prepared to assure
eradication sustained
– Rinderpest virus destruction and
sequestration in safe repositories
– Global verification exercise by FAO-GREP and
OIE
– Continued vigilance and response capacity
• Documentation of History of rinderpest
eradication in Africa and socio-economic
impact studies.

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POST RINDERPEST EXIT
STRATEGY
• The OIE rinderpest pathway criteria rendered
the risk of persisting wild rinderpest virus
negligible in accredited countries.
• Concern: What is the worst that could
happen? - and how to protect against it?
• 2 broad categories of risk:
1. risks that remained despite the OIE pathway
having been complied with, and;
2. risks that remained because some countries
did not follow the pathway correctly or the
pathway had not delivered the confidence it
was designed to do.
IBAR was concerned with risk 1; risk 2
addressed by OIE/FAO leading to global
declaration of freedom in 2011

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Perceived Hazards/Threats of
Continued Rinderpest Activity?
A. Deep frozen virus :
– in Veterinary Laboratories in pathological
specimens, wet and freeze-dried virus isolates.
B. Vaccine virus:
– Stored in national, regional or field veterinary
laboratories.
C. Wild rinderpest virus persists:
– As subclinical/mild disease in pockets where
serological surveillance was incomplete for
reasons such as insecurity and uncontrolled
transboundary movements of livestock.
D. Threats to cattle from other morbilliviruses
(other viruses emerge/adapt to fill the niche
left vacant by rinderpest eradication).
- PPR jumps species to cattle;
- New morbilliviruses emerge.

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Recommended Responses to Threats
RP virus materials:
programme to remove existing rinderpest
viruses from all but essential and
carefully controlled locations (being
addressed globally by OIE/FAO and AU-
PANVAC in Africa)
Wild RP and other morbilliviruses:
A surveillance strategy that would be
sustainable in the post-rinderpest
world, but effective at detecting any
re-emergence of rinderpest or
rinderpest-like syndromes

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What Surveillance Strategy?
• Random sample sero-surveillance had
done its job at the end of the OIE
pathway and the declaration of Global
freedom from Rinderpest.
• Continued sero-surveillance for
rinderpest had little on-going value for
livestock owners.
• Need to focus on strengthening
syndromic surveillance as a risk
mitigation measure, linked to
differential diagnosis and remedial
action against other diseases to support

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Syndromic Surveillance: Where
and How?
• The Somali Ecosystem of immediate concern
as the most likely possible focus of infection
• A larger area (IGAD & EAC) to be included due
to the large ruminant population and the desire
to export livestock commodities from the
regions
• The Exit Strategy proposed to provide continued
surveillance for rinderpest through a programme
that includes trade sensitive diseases
• All livestock value chain actors to benefit as the
surveillance would contribute to livestock
disease control and marketing
programmes

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Syndromic Surveillance: Achieve
What?
Proposed syndromic surveillance programme to:
• support control of diseases affecting export
trade
• control two important zoonoses
• ensure vigilance against rinderpest; in case of
an outbreak, enable rapid stamping out
through early warning, emergency
preparedness and contingency planning
(including immediate access to vaccine), and
return to a disease free status
• support the needs of all livestock value chain
actors
• introduce conditions for a livestock export
market to encourage investments in the

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Syndromic Surveillance: What
Syndromes?
1.Stomatitis-enteritis syndrome or
rinderpest-like conditions which include
trade-sensitive diseases (PPR; FMD)
2.A pneumonia syndrome to include the
trade-sensitive pleuropneumonias (CBPP
and CCPP)
3.An abortion syndrome to include
brucellosis & RVF (important for trade
and as zoonoses)

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Recommendations from SERECU
Although rinderpest is now eradicated
from Africa, other TADs continue to erode
the continent’s ability to access lucrative
livestock export markets. Strategies for
the progressive control of these diseases
and continued vigilance for rinderpest re-
emergence are needed:
1.Establishment of an effective syndromic surveillance
system for TADs that links key stakeholders for exchange
of information and for expeditious emergency responses
2.All the rinderpest virus strains held in laboratories in
Africa should be destroyed or kept in high biosecurity
facilities to reduce the chances of virus escape

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Political Commitments
Achievements in RP eradication, SERECU Exit
Strategy and Recommendations presented to 8th
Conference of Ministers for animal resources in
Africa (May 2010). THEME: “Improving access to
markets for African animal resources to significantly
contribute to economic growth and reduction of
poverty”
The Ministers recommended the destruction of
rinderpest virus materials or their sequestration in
secure facilities at AU-PANVAC
Endorsed by Heads State and Government in
January 2011
Capacity of AU-PANVAC for containment of rinderpest virus
materials appropriately strengthened.

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Support to Member States for
Disease Surveillance and control
 AU-IBAR supporting the IGAD region
to enhance TADs surveillance and
control through the SMP-AH and
STSD projects (Djibouti, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan
and Uganda) and Tanzania.
 Entails development of standard
methods and procedures (SMPs) for
harmonization of surveillance,
diagnostic and control actions

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….
What is an SMP?
Operational protocol to create uniformity
in disease detection and control
procedures in the participating countries.
Outlines measures that must be
undertaken in surveillance, epidemiology,
laboratory procedures, disease control and
export quarantine operations.
States minimum standards, procedures,
and goals for a harmonised regional
control of the disease in line with OIE
standards and the regional context
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 Eleven SMPs including Rinderpest
developed by experts, validated and
adopted by MS of the IGAD region and
Tanzania
 AU-IBAR is now supporting the SADC
Region to adopt the SMP approach.
ECOWAS also interested
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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….
Participants of the SMP validation workshop held at AU-
IBAR, Nairobi, Kenya, 30th July-1st August, 2014

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and
control….
The validated SMP for
Rinderpest
 Support for
Surveillance and
laboratory diagnosis
is being provided to
SMP-AH
participating
countries to support
harmonisation of
disease prevention
and control using
the SMP approach

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….
 Capacity building and awareness creation to enhance
passive surveillance for TADs by grassroots
stakeholders
 Pictorial Manual on syndromic surveillance to support
passive surveillance and assist disease recognition and
reporting has been published.
Discussion on disease recognition and
reporting using the Syndromic manual with
livestock traders in Adama, Ethiopia

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 Supporting cross border activities for
coordination and harmonisation of
prevention and control TADs in the GHoA
 Countries share knowledge, exchange
experiences, good practices and lessons
learned in disease surveillance and
control.
 Agree on joint implementation work
plans in local cross border areas to
address TADs
Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and
control….
Closing Ceremony for the Surveillance and Epidemiology
Course (13 Weeks training course)
 Capacity building in Surveillance and epidemiology of TADs

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….
The closing ceremony for the Management Skills development
course (18 weeks course)
 Capacity building in Management Skills
Development to support delivery of veterinary
services in support of control of TADs

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 AU-IBAR also
supporting IGAD MS
to coordinate TADs
control efforts under
the Surveillance for
Trade sensitve
diseases (STSD)
project
 Complements the
SMP-AH project
Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and
control….
PPR/SRDs-CCC Members

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Support to Member States for
disease surveillance and control….
 AU-IBAR is also providing specific support
to Somalia through the EU funded Project
for Reinforcing Animal Health Services in
Somalia (RAHS)
 The project is addressing:
• Capacity of Public institutions to deliver and
regulate animal health services.
• Public, private and community partnerships in
animal health services delivery
• Improving surveillance and control systems for
trade sensitive diseases

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Conclusion
 The African Union Commission has
demonstrated commitment to
destruction/sequestration of rinderpest
virus materials and the assurance of
continued freedom from rinderpest by:
- securing political commitment at the highest levels
of Government on the destruction and
sequestration of rinderpest virus materials (AU-
IBAR and AU-PANVAC)
- Mobilizing resources to enhance syndromic
surveillance for TADs mainly in the IGAD MS and
Tanzania
- Working closely with RECs and MS to engage
existing technical capacities for more effective
surveillance, prevention, control and reporting of

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Thank You
AU-IBAR: Providing leadership in the development of animal
resources for Africa
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