FAO in Egypt

Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) - Egypt

MERS-CoV

FAO, through its Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Unit has provided considerable technical and capacity strengthening support to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MoALR). In view of the current MERS-CoV global situation and the potential threat to Egypt, FAO has developed this project following a series of consultations with participation of national stakeholders.

The project is part of the FAO/USAID global/regional efforts to understand and delineate the boundaries of MERS-CoV epi-zones, range of animal species serving as hosts of MERS-CoV and define key points along the value chain where animal-to-animal and animal-to-human transmissions may occur.

In view of the seasonal human movements from Egypt during the different fests (Hajj, Umra, Christmas, Easter, etc) and the huge volume of live animals (camel) imported from eastern Africa, MERS-CoV will remain a priority threat to Egypt. There is only one confirmed MERS-CoV human case in Egypt reported in 2014, came back from a trip to Saudi Arabia with MERS-CoV neutralizing antibodies detected in sera.

The major impact for the project is to understand the MERS-CoV host range, modes of transmission from animal to animal, and from animal to human throughout implementation of different project activities including surveillance, value chain studies and strengthening of the national lab capacity.

Implemented and planned

  • Surveillance activities on MERS-CoV conducted in selected areas involving camel and is ongoing
  • An overview on camel value chain in Egypt was developed and shared with the relevant partners.
  • Strengthening of lab capacity:
    • Standardization of MERS CoV testing Protocol for national lab Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI)
    • Training of Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI) staff on MERS CoV testing protocol had been conducted in country in 2016 and there is other upcoming training for 3 lab staff it is planned to be conducted on 24-28 in ERASMUS Institute (reference lab for MERS CoV), Netherland.