Call for countries to comply with moratorium on research using live rinderpest virus

FAO/OIE move underpins next steps to ensure the lethal livestock disease remains eradicated for good
FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are calling on countries to comply with a global moratorium on research that involves working with live rinderpest virus in laboratories. FAO and OIE are working together to bring about the destruction of potentially dangerous virus samples and biological materials that are currently stored in more than 40 laboratories across the world, some under insufficient levels of biosecurity. Some reserves of rinderpest virus should be kept to produce vaccines and for research in case the disease emerges again or is released as a result of an accidental or deliberate act. [read more...]

AGA IN ACTION	HIGHLIGHTs
African Union Commission and FAO sign agreement to work together The African Union Commission and the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in the fight against tsetse and the animal trypanosomosis. [read more...]	FAO encourages the use of co-products of energy crop Jatropha as new livestock feed resources to reduce food-feed competition FAO’s expert presented the challenges and opportunities in utilization of Jatropha products as livestock feed and generation of other value added products using biorefinary concept... [read more...]