Simulation exercise: Foot and mouth disease in Colombia

31 July to 5 August 2022

Dr. Deyanira Barrero León, Delegate to WOAH and Director General of the Colombian Agricultural Institute, informed WOAH that a simulation exercise will be conducted within the framework of strategies to maintain the country free from foot and mouth disease virus. The simulation exercise will take place from 31 July to 5 August 2022 in the municipality of Dibulla, Department of La Guajira.

The exercise will have a national scope. Its main objective is to test the capacity to respond to a potential health emergency caused by this disease, while tending to supposedly affected areas, collecting and submitting samples, coordinating with the national laboratory, and implementing different control and eradication measures.

The response capacity of the Colombian Veterinary Epidemiological Surveillance System will also be tested after a notification is submitted to a local office of the official veterinary service and the necessary actions at that point in time have been implemented.

Participants of the exercise will include the Pan American Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA/PAHO). This will enable the further strengthening of this inter-institutional alliance, which has led to important achievements in maintaining the sanitary status attained for this disease.

This activity is part of the activities set out in the Foot and Mouth Disease Eradication Programme, aimed at ensuring a high level of awareness, preparedness and a capacity to implement a quick response to this disease, as well as ensuring the functioning of the national contingency plan.

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World Animal Health Information and Analysis Department
World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
[email protected]