Emergency Response Mission for Foot and Mouth Disease in Iraq

The team summarized field visits to various regions in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, and to the central diagnostic laboratories in Baghdad and Erbil. They also reviewed department's foot-and-mouth disease control Programmes and provided valuable observations and suggestions for an implementation plan for the FMD control system and animal diseases in general.

Dr. Mithaq Al-Khafaji, Technical Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the rapid response of the FAO and the FAO team of experts, and confirmed the Ministry's commitment to implementing their valuable observations. He also explained the reasons that led to the outbreak of the disease in Iraq and the measures by the Ministry of Agriculture to control the disease and limit its spread, as well as to protect breeders and farmers by setting vaccination dates for animals and issuing veterinary certificates. In addition, a platform has been established that includes all hospitals and veterinary clinics to share and disseminate information and reports on the number of animals and their movements, and to identify foci of injury.

In turn, Dr. Salah El Hajj Hassan, FAO Representative in Iraq, stressed the need to form a joint committee to be called Iraqi FMD Task Force that includes experts in animal disease control from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in the Kurdistan Region.  The FMD task force would act as a technical advisory group to provide recommendations to decision-makers in Baghdad and Erbil. The FAO office in Iraq will develop the necessary recommendations to improve animal disease control programs and harmonies Global and local regulations for the protection of livestock in Iraq.

At the end of the meeting, several proposals and recommendations were concluded, most notably the joint cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture and the FAO Organization by intensifying the training of veterinary staff in a qualitative and targeted manner through training programs to increase competencies and technical expertise, while building a system for monitoring and controlling livestock diseases, with the support of the proposal of the Representative of  FAO in Iraq to form a committee specialized in communicating and unifying information between the Center and the Kurdistan Region, with the participation of the FAO, so that accurate information and data on animal diseases can be sent.