Rift Valley fever, Mauritania, 2020: Lessons from a one health approach.

A new outbreak of Rift Valley fever (RVF) occurred in Mauritania from September to November 2020, involving 78 reported human cases and 186 reported animal cases. Eleven out of the 13 regions of the country were affected by the epidemic, with the highest number of both human and animal cases in Tagant, Assaba and Brakna regions. The most affected animal species in this outbreak was camels, followed by small ruminants.

Good emergency management practices: a review of the core principles, with a focus on preparedness.

Animal health emergencies can also have serious socio-economic and public health consequences, including impacts on human health, as well as food security and safety. Therefore, policy-makers and advisers should take an active part in the development of emergency management systems. A formally structured animal health emergency management system sets out, in a systematic way, the elements required to achieve the necessary level of preparedness, and provides for planning and implementation of the appropriate actions to be taken in an emergency.

A framework for national official assurance systems with reference to World Organisation for Animal Health standards.

With the expansion and intensification of international trade in animals and animal products in the last decades, the risk of the spread of transboundary animal diseases has increased. Veterinary Authorities may take legitimate measures at import to protect their territories' animal and human populations, and may require official assurances for imported animals or animal products. These measures have often led to overly stringent restrictions or even wide embargoes that may have a counterproductive effect.

Multi-host disease management: the why and the how to include wildlife.

In recent years, outbreaks caused by multi-host pathogens (MHP) have posed a serious challenge to public and animal health authorities. The frequent implication of wildlife in such disease systems and a lack of guidelines for mitigating these diseases within wild animal populations partially explain why the outbreaks are particularly challenging. To face these challenges, the French Ministry of Agriculture launched a multi-disciplinary group of experts that set out to discuss the main wildlife specific concepts in the management of MHP disease outbreaks and how to integrate wildlife in the disease management process.

Compartmentalisation and zoning: the Dutch perspective.

The aim of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) procedure of compartmentalisation is to contribute to safe trade in live animals and animal products. The fundamental requirement for its application is that the population considered for trade remains epidemiologically separate from populations of higher risk. Compartmentalisation makes use of a functional separation through management, taking into account all relevant epidemiological factors.