Great Event of FAO and Partners on Hemorrhagic Fever

Baghdad, 10th May 2022

To keep pace with the events of the spread of hemorrhagic fever in Iraq, in coordination with the College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Baghdad,  the Ministry of Health and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, contributed to the organization of the  workshop entitled Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever from one health perspective.

The workshop was held under the patronage of the President of the University of Baghdad, Prof. Dr. Munir Hamid Al-Saadi, and under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. Hamid Ali Kazem, and in the presence of the Technical Deputy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mithaq Abdul-Hussein, Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Iraq Dr. Salah Al-Hajj Hassan, Head of the Veterinarians Syndicate Dr. Samira Latif, and Dr. Karim bin Jabara represented the FAO through the Zoom platform and Dr. Amer Musa Yassin in his presence.

The workshop aimed at building and implementing effective collaborative One Health strategies, simultaneously addressing the health of people, animals and the environment.  Ensuring a One Health approach is essential for progress to anticipate, prevent, detect and control diseases that spread between animals and humans, ensure food safety, prevent environment-related human and animal health threats, as well as combatting many other challenges.

In line with this approach, FAO international expert, Dr. Karim Ben Jebara, delivered a lecture on the measures to control and prevent the occurrence of Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, including its occurrences and the Geographical Distribution in Animals and Humans in Iraq; the virus Transmission to Humans; the virus transmission in Ticks and Animals, the Pathogenicity of the disease in Humans and Animals and the Disease Prevention and Control.

To conclude, Dr. Amir Moosa Yassin, FAO expert presented the following recommendations of the workshop:

1. Establishment of a high scientific board affiliated to the council of Ministers acting on all scientific activities in the country.
2. Activation of stopped abattoirs and establishing new ones where needed. And preventing animal slaughtering outside the abattoirs.
3. Specifying a special budget to provide insecticides for regular spraying and dipping campaigns to control ticks.
4. Preventing animal movement from and to the infected areas.
5. Public awareness campaigns especially for livestock breeders and butchers.
6. Addressing a plan to control vectors and rodents.