Simulation exercise: African Swine Fever in Guatemala

23 to 26 October 2022

Dr. María Eugenia Paz Díaz, Delegate to WOAH and Director of Animal Health of the Republic of Guatemala, informed WOAH that from 23 to 26 October 2022 a simulation exercise in the event of an outbreak of African Swine Fever disease in pigs will be conducted in the Municipality of La Antigua Guatemala, Department of Sacatepéquez.

The simulation exercise, organised by the Directorate of Animal Health, aims to:

  1. Assess the decision-making capacity of the official veterinary field services of the Animal Health Directorate in emergency and disaster preparedness and response, in accordance with established plans and procedures.
  2. Validate the Manual of Good Practices for African Swine Fever Emergency Management in Guatemala.
  3. Test the effectiveness of inter-institutional and inter-sectoral coordination in responding to animal health emergencies.
  4. Train people who have roles in decision-making and the implementation of emergency response actions in crisis and information management.

Representatives from both central and local levels will participate in this exercise, which will consist of two parts:

  • Update of knowledge on pig diseases, mainly African swine fever and control activities for this disease.
  • Scenario-based simulation exercise and practical training on aspects of diagnosis, sampling, epidemiological investigation, traceability, biosecurity, containment and eradication procedures for African swine fever.

Participants of the exercise will include official veterinarians from the Department of Epidemiological Surveillance and Risk Analysis, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, the Animal Health Laboratory, the Regional Animal Health Reference Laboratory, the International Regional Organisation for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA), and the Pig Farmers’ Association. This will allow for the continued strengthening of the public-private partnership, which has led to important achievements in the prevention of swine diseases in the country.

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