Response Practises For Animal Disease
USA - A day after British officials confirmed a new case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in England, state and federal agencies, along with livestock industry leaders, met in Montgomery, Ala., to coordinate response in the event of an FMD outbreak in Alabama.Alabama agricultural leaders discuss response strategies for an animal disease outbreak during the training exercise. From left are Reid Blossom with Alabama Cattlemen's Association, Dr. Lisa Kriese-Anderson, associate professor of animal science at Auburn University and Dr. Terry Slaten, associate state veterinarian |
Alabama Farmers Federation Beef and Dairy Director Perry Mobley said the event was planned long before the first case of FMD was announced in England. However, recent news highlighted the need for the state to have a realistic emergency response plan.
"The greatest benefit of a practice scenario like the one we participated in today is the interagency collaboration," Mobley said. "Heaven forbid we ever have the real situation in Alabama, but we can't stick our heads in the sand and say it won't ever happen in the United States.
"With global commerce and the growing ease and frequency of worldwide travel, there is much greater opportunity for foreign animal diseases to spread," he added. "Today's exercise provided an opportunity for different agencies and industry representatives to come together and act out a plausible scenario and response."
About 75 people attended the Animal Foreign Disease Tabletop Exercise at the Alabama Cattlemen's Association building. The meeting was conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security. It included representatives from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alabama Department of Public Health, Alabama Emergency Management Agency, Alabama Department of Transportation, Auburn University, Alabama Farmers Federation, Alabama Cattlemen's Association, Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Source: Alfa Farmers