Establishment and Operation of an FAO/OIE Crisis Management Centre for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and other transboundary animal diseases

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments of countries affected by or highly at-risk of TAD outbreaks.

• Deployed 67 rapid response missions, assisting 43 countries in their efforts to investigate, assess and rapidly respond to new outbreaks or critical epidemiologic situations:
  - Conducted rapid assessments on surveillance capacity and diagnostic/laboratory capacity in at-risk countries.
  - Carried out rapid deployment missions in infected countries, as well as in countries at high risk and at short notice through a fast track mechanism.
  - Prepared project proposals based on countries’ needs/funding gap and assessments for further development/fund raising.
• Published an updated manual in 2011, entitled “Good Emergency Management Practice (GEMP): the Essentials”, providing guidelines to animal health officials on preparing for/responding to animal health emergencies (available in English, French, Spanish and Chinese, with Arabic soon available).
• Organized GEMP training workshops (four regional workshops and three country workshops), with a total of 153 participants from 23 countries, as part of the rollout strategy for GEMP.