Over 150 participants, including ministers and
other high-level officials from countries affected and at-risk of Peste
des petits ruminants (PPR) also (also known as
sheep and goat plague) as well as international organizations, veterinarians
and private sector representatives are gathering at the Global Conference
organized in Brussels, reports NaijaAgroNet.
The global conference, NaijaAgroNet gathered
is being hosted by the European Union, the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal health (OIE).
Conference participants are expected to
reaffirm a global commitment to eradicate the disease by 2030.
In the past two decades, PPR has spread
rapidly, mostly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The disease causes more than $2 billion in
losses each year and threatens the food and nutritional security of millions of
vulnerable households who raise sheep and goats in the affected regions. Sheep
and goats are critical assets for poor rural households, providing protein,
milk, fertilizer, wool and fiber, as well as often representing essential
social capital and access to financial credit.
The Conference, which is titled “Partnering
and investing for a Peste des petits ruminants-free world” will be a
two-day event, beginning on 6 September with a Stakeholders Forum which will
focus on technical issues and challenges related to national disease
eradication policies.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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