The ECTAD Program was launched in Africa in 2006 following the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza in West Africa and North Africa to support capacity development to address high impact transboundary animal diseases.

23 August 2017, Addis Ababa - The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Program carried out its 2^nd Africa-wide regional meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.   More than 80 ECTAD staff representing 14 country offices where the ECTAD program is established, as well as staff from FAO Headquarters and the Regional Offices for Africa, Near East and North Africa, and Asia and the Pacific attended the event. 

The main aim of the 2^nd Africa Regional ECTAD Meeting (AfREM) was to finalize 2017-2018 Emerging Pandemic Threats Phase 2 (EPT-2) Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) work plans for submission.  Further, reviewing the status of ECTAD program implementation, building a strong Africa-wide ECTAD team, and having shared information about ECTAD and broader activities were the other outcomes of the meeting.

In his opening remark, Mr. Amadou Allahoury, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, emphasized that a significant effort has been made in Ethiopia to integrate the ECTAD program and ECTAD team into the broader mandate and initiatives of the Representation.  He further indicated, “FAO Ethiopia has capitalized on using the expertise of the ECTAD staff to support additional FAO Ethiopia-led initiatives in country such as emergency drought response, resiliency programming and humanitarian response efforts.”

During the course of the event, particular technical emphasis was given to 1) Supporting the Global Health Security Agenda to address Zoonotic Disease and Animal Health in Africa; 2) Global support programs on MERS-CoV, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI); 3) Anti-microbial resistance; 4) Global, Regional, & National control and eradication of PPR (peste des petits ruminants); 5) developing capacities of national veterinary systems; and 6) resource mobilization.

Towards the end of the meeting, Subhash Morzaria, USAID EPT2 Program Global Coordinator at FAO, capitalized on the need to further nurture team spirit, mobilize resources, make sure to deliver on action packages and deliver something new on One Health in Africa. This will include establishing collaboration across different sectors and working towards greater collaboration with the public health and the wildlife sectors.

The ECTAD Program was launched in Africa in 2006 following the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza in West Africa and North Africa to support capacity development to address high impact transboundary animal diseases.  Since 2015, the ECTAD Program has been financed by USAID through the EPT-2 Program, which is mainly intended to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases that have an adverse impact on health sectors on both human and animal.

To date, 16 ECTAD Country Units have been established in Eastern Africa (4), Near East and North Africa (2), and West and Central Africa (10). The ECTAD Ethiopia office was established in April 2016.

For further information, Please contact:

Feleseta Woldetsadique

Email: [email protected]