In the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the FAO in collaboration with the Alexandria University, the General Organization for Veterinary Services (GOVS) is organizing a technical workshop on FMD in Egypt, which will take place at Safir Hotel from 2-3 May 2012.

Since February 2012, the FMD outbreaks in Egypt have reportedly been responsible for more than 80,000 suspected infections in cattle and buffaloes with nearly 20,000 deaths, mostly in calves.

The workshop will facilitate the sharing of past and recent experiences among national and international experts and will address technical and policy challenges and way forward in FMD control in Egypt. Among others, emphasis will be made on the FMD epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and control measures including farm bio-security, vaccines and vaccination, and enabling tools such as effective communications and public-private partnerships. Besides, the framework for FMD progressive control pathway (PCP) and Egypt’s future engagement in the process will be discussed.

The workshop organised as part of FAO and Government responses to the FMD crisis will bring together more than 60 participants including Egyptian professionals working at the Alexandria University, Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Central Laboratory for the Evaluation of Veterinary Biologics (CLEVB), and Veterinary Serum and Vaccine Research Institute (VSVRI), and international experts from FAO and the European Commission for the control of FMD (EuFMD), World Reference Laboratory for FMD and Institute for Animal Health - Pirbright Laboratory (Pirbright, UK).

FMD, which affects most cloven-hoofed mammals, has devastating effects on meat and milk production and can cause mortalities among pregnant and young animals. It does not pose direct human health risks, but milk or meat from infected animals should not be consumed, as any livestock products entering the food chain should come only from healthy animals.

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