A three-day seminar on One Health, co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), concluded on 13 June in Vienna. The meeting, hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Health and held at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, brought together representatives from 38 government agencies across Europe and Central Asia, including ministries of health, agriculture, and environment as well as regional and subregional organizations, institutions, collaborating centres, reference laboratories, relevant actors. 

FAO and the Regional Centre for Forestry and Rural Development (REFORD) in North Macedonia hosted the annual international meeting of the Forest Invasive Species Network for Europe and Central Asia (REUFIS) from 4 to 6 June 2024 in Skopje, North Macedonia. The primary focus of this year’s meeting was the role of invasive species in urban forest planning. During this three-day event, participants explored the relationship between invasive species and urban forestry.

Disease outbreaks severely constrain aquaculture development, and the processes for controlling diseases and managing health are different in aquaculture than in the terrestrial livestock sector, primarily due to the fluid environment. For this reason, Kyrgyzstan, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has begun to develop a national action plan for the control of fish diseases. The project supports fish farms through the implementation of best practices in fish health management, biosafety on fish farms and the planning of production activities. This can help improve product quality and increase production volumes.

Agriculture ministers from the five Central Asian countries came together at a virtual meeting today to discuss and share examples of sustainable locust management. Facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the meeting was the eighth annual gathering of the ministers, with Kazakhstan serving as this year’s host. The goal of the meeting was to strengthen cross-border and long-term regional cooperation and to share experience, knowledge and lessons learned from locust campaigns. The meeting also covered advanced approaches to improving country capacities and supporting a preventive approach for better locust management and the reduction of risks related to locust outbreaks.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) join forces each year to raise awareness about these issues and inspire action across all sectors of the food chain, from farm to fork. This year’s theme, “Food safety: prepare for the unexpected”, explores the ways in which we all can prepare for unexpected food safety incidents, from minor events to major international crises. To raise awareness on proper food safety and management, a workshop was held in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on World Food Safety Day to help consumers, producers and officials focus on an issue often taken for granted.

African swine fever (ASF) is a very serious animal disease that may kill up to 100 percent of infected animals, both domestic pigs and wild boar of all breeds and ages and for which, currently, there is no commercially available vaccine or treatment. It poses significant economic, livelihood and biodiversity threats to the region's pig sector and wild populations. As part of its work to combat African swine fever in the region, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is building capacity to improve ASF management by teaching outbreak investigation and basic epidemiology to participants from Western Balkans in a four-day workshop in Sarajevo from 21 to 24 May.

Locust infestations, aggravated by climate change and environmental factors, are a serious problem for agricultural production in Tajikistan, threatening food security and economic stability. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the country via regional projects as part of its “Programme to improve national and regional locust management in Central Asia and Caucasus (CCA)”.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is taking a leap forward in bolstering animal health training globally. The FAO Virtual Learning Center (VLC) for the Europe and Central Asia region has secured accreditation for three of its online courses through the Veterinary Continuing Education in Europe (VetCEE) – an international non-profit association founded as a joint initiative of veterinary academia, specialists and the profession. These accredited courses include topics as diverse as biosecurity for ruminants, African swine fever preparedness, and an introduction to One Health.

Zoonotic diseases – diseases that can pass between animals and people – continue to have major impacts on human health and cause economic losses. To support the Kyrgyz Republic in controlling such diseases, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Government of the United States of America through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic launched the Global health security and pandemic preparedness programme. It should enhance the One Health approach in the country and support its ability to prevent, detect and respond to zoonotic and other public health threats. 

In Europe and Central Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is expanding its online learning opportunities for animal health and production specialists. The platform is the regional Virtual Learning Center that has successfully conducted a series of virtual tutored trainings in 2023 and is set to roll out new courses that will respond to the dynamic needs of the region. 

Globally, we are faced with an urgent and unprecedented need to significantly reduce the growing global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the livestock sector caused by overuse and misuse of antimicrobials. 

To  accelerate work to combat AMR in the Western Balkans, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened a technical consultation meeting on antimicrobial use and resistance in the Western Balkans, from 6 to 7 December, in a hybrid format. 

Agriculture plays a central role in Montenegro’s economy, with livestock breeding being the most important agriculture subsector. Now, farmers are learning how to take ownership of their local farm development by applying the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 

African swine fever, an infectious viral and highly lethal disease that kills pigs and wild boar, first appeared in the Balkans and the Republic of Moldova nearly a decade ago. While not a threat to human health, the virus is a major hazard to pig farms, livelihoods, local economies, and food security. 

Food standards help ensure that food produced, traded, and consumed is safe, and meets the quality parameters expected by the consumer.  Several countries in the Europe and Central Asia region use Codex standards and texts as the basis for strengthening their legal framework for food safety including development of food laws, regulations, and other measures.

Several transboundary animal diseases are controlled with a “stamping out” policy, which consists of depopulation of the diseased animals, disposal of the infected carcasses and materials, followed by cleaning and disinfection of the affected farm. 

The Central Asian Animal Health Network (CAAHN) convened on 8−9 June for its third meeting since its establishment in 2019 in the historical city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to delve into the future of animal health and the One Health approach within the region.

When you eat, are you sure your food is safe?  Most likely, the answer will not be categorically affirmative. Foodborne diseases affect 1 in 10 people worldwide each year. To change this situation, many people work every day to ensure that safety requirements are met in the food production process. Food standards help us to ensure what we eat is safe. 

FAO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development help update food safety measures for smallholders’ traditional culinary products

By incorporating the vision of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on digital innovation to prevent and control avian influenza, the FAO Virtual Learning Center for Europe and Central Asia has trained over 240 veterinarians through an online, Russian language course for preparedness against an outbreak of the detrimental disease.

Two back-to-back events addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the food and agriculture sectors of Europe and Central Asia concluded today in Moscow. Countries at the consultation meeting on 5-6 December agreed to set up an antimicrobial resistance laboratory network, with the active participation of the main animal health and food safety laboratories involved in the detection of AMR in the six countries of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan.