In January 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) created a new mechanism to enhance the protection of animals and animal-related livelihoods. FAO and OIE established the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Working Group in accordance with the recommendations made during the fifth meeting of the Global Framework for Transboundary Animal Diseases Global Steering Committee. Over the past year the Working Group has endeavoured to identify responsibilities, opportunities and challenges to implement the global strategy for the progressive control of PPR, a highly contagious and widespread viral disease that affects sheep, goats and other small ruminants.

On 11 and 12 September 2013, the PPR Working Group members attended their seventh meeting at FAO headquarters in Rome. During the meeting, the Working Group members discussed the formulation of the PPR global strategy. Participants examined research areas, monitoring tools and lessons learned from current and past PPR projects in order to identify cost-effective measures with which to manage the disease.

The PPR global strategy is being developed with a strong focus on food security and on exchanging information, protocols and methodologies to fight PPR and other small ruminant diseases according to regional priorities. The strategy will take into account different scenarios, including post-vaccination monitoring tolls.

The Working Group also aims to set up a PPR Secretariat to be based at FAO headquarters. Following the example of the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme, through which rinderpest was successfully eradicated on a global level in 2011, the PPR Secretariat will coordinate the implementation of the strategy towards the possible eradication of the disease.