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Victor Nazarenko, “Introduction and spread of the ASF virus affects the food security of states, and also significantly limits their export potential”
Viktor Nazarenko, Minister in charge of Technical Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, said this in his video address, opening a seminar on the topic African Swine Fever as a Global Threat. International Efforts and Science in Combating ASF, organized jointly with the regional representative office of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) in Moscow on November 16.
“It is very important that the information and knowledge gained during this seminar will be further applied in developing new and improving the existing regulatory documents comprising the law of the EAEU,” noted the EEC Minister. “Combining efforts to eliminate outbreaks of this disease, taking into account WOAH recommendations and international practice, will minimize restrictions on mutual trade and will help increase the export potential of the Union Member States.”
Budimir Plavšić, Head of the WOAH regional representative office in Moscow, also delivered his welcoming remarks. He drew special attention to the relevance of the issue under discussion and noted that ASF could cause enormous harm to pig farming, as 66 countries of the world have already faced this global problem to some degree or another.
Elaborating on the topic, Mereke Taitubaev, the seminar moderator and the Head of the WOAH Sub-Regional Office in Central Asia, emphasized the importance of submitting information about ASF cases to the WOAH World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS), since this disease poses a serious threat to global agriculture and trade.
The seminar speakers were WOAH representatives, as well as leading experts in the field of veterinary medicine: Jean Perchet (WOAH), Alberto Laddomada (DG SANCO EC), Denis Kolbasov (Russia), José Manuel Sánchez-Vizcaíno (Spain), Alexey Igolkin (Russia), Sandra Blome (WOAH).
During the event, its participants looked into the current epizootic situation regarding African swine fever around the world, trends in its spread, modern methods of combating and preventing the disease, research studying and assessing the biological properties of the ASF virus, as well as the difficulties that developers of a vaccine against this insidious virus have been facing for decades. They emphasized that with the creation of an effective and safe vaccine, a colossal breakthrough would be made in combating that particularly dangerous disease.
The authorized bodies of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus shared their experience in ASF prevention, which will certainly be useful to veterinary specialists of other EAEU states when planning measures to prevent the introduction and spread of this disease in their states.
The seminar was attended by the EEC personnel, the WOAH representatives and experts, officials and experts of the authorized veterinary bodies of all Eurasian Economic Union States, as well as their leading subordinate institutions and laboratories.
Guests and participants of the event were employees of the Moscow embassies of a number of European countries, Cuba and Thailand, the Office of the European Union Delegation in Moscow and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which indicates the relevance and increased interest in the topic of the seminar on the part of foreign specialists.
The audience displayed great interest in research and practical issues related to the development, creation and use of live and recombinant vaccines, their effectiveness and safety, as well as the implementation of international vaccination projects. Having a complex structure, a large number of degrees of protection and extreme resistance, the virus continues to be actively studied by leading research laboratories around the world.
For reference
The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) is an intergovernmental organization responsible for animal health worldwide. It is recognized as a reference organization by the WTO.
African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs, characterized by fever, cyanosis and extensive hemorrhages in the internal organs. Most often, this disease occurs in the acute form with mortality rates of up to 100%.
