Using a Proven Animal Disease Control Model for Eastern African Countries

Using a Proven Animal Disease Control Model for Eastern African Countries

I’m KayDee Gilkey with today’s Open Range.

Often we take things for granted that work as they should when we need them. Electricity, your vehicle starting ... our animal disease control program.

The United States has a very effective animal disease control program coordinated between federal and states for more than 80 years. In Eastern Africa, nine nations are currently working to create their own animal disease control program molding the U.S. model to fit their unique needs.

Veterinarian Andrew A Clark, who retired as Oregon’s State Veterinarian in 2004 and has more than 20 years of experience living and working in Eastern Africa, has a role in helping with the creation of this new program.

Clark: “The project is the Standard Methods of Procedures in Animal Health. What it does is harmonize or coordinate the veterinarian departments of nine nations of Eastern Africa in how they approach their Transboundary Animal Disease. These are ones that are especially related to trade with the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East for animals that are being exported from Eastern Africa. The control of these diseases is very important to the livelihood of the people producing them.”

Besides controlling animal diseases, Dr. Clark says one of the important components of the program is to establish better communication and confidence between exporters and importers.

More than 350 million head of quadruped livestock reside within these nine nations. That is almost twice as much as the U.S.’ livestock population.