Dr Martine Dubuc, Vice-President of the Science Branch, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Ottawa, Canada, informed the OIE about a simulation exercise on foot and mouth disease (FMD) that will take place on 26 June 2014 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
This simulation exercise, directed by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) will consist of a facilitated discussion using a FMD scenario as the basis for the discussion. The scenario will be composed of a hypothetical FMD outbreak in a farming region of southern-western Ontario, resulting from a farm worker’s recent travel to a country that is not FMD-free and failure to disinfect/dispose of his work clothes.
Senior executives from AAFC, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and Public Safety Canada are expected to participate in the discussion, as key partners in addressing FMD impacts for Canada and the Canadian agriculture sector.
The purpose of this discussion is:
- for participants to gain a better understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities in a large-scale emergency like FMD, particularly in the early days of the event and as disease response activities transition to market recovery activities; and
- to highlight the need for regular communication between the organizations, including identification of areas for improvement in that regard.
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Animal Health Information Department
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
[email protected]