GREP strategy
GREP-oriented
tasks will be undertaken by individual State Veterinary Services, except
in troubled areas where it is possible that international relief agencies
and NGOs will provide an alternative service. It is not envisaged that
there will be an international force created to undertake GREP objectives.
Through its regional co-ordination system GREP will promote national
action plans for:
-
ensuring the existence of an assured capability for immediate response to rinderpest outbreaks whether this be through using national resources or by preparedness to request rapidly assistance from international resources such as EMPRES
-
the disclosure and elimination of all foci of disease
-
terminating all prophylactic vaccination against rinderpest two years after the disappearance of the clinical disease
-
ensuring the development of national disease surveillance systems capable of recognising the presence of rinderpest through the rapid detection of rinderpest outbreaks at a clinical level and a national laboratory investigation service capable of undertaking the differential diagnosis of rinderpest and rinderpest-like diseases
-
ensuring the existence of a national reporting system, through which information on outbreaks of all OIE list A diseases moves from livestock owner to the head of the State Animal Health Service and thence to the relevant international authority;
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improving the livestock owner-veterinary services interface to the point where the risk of under-reporting is no longer significant;
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the maintenance of appropriate inter-country sanitary cordons until such time as there is regional concurrence that neighbouring countries no longer pose a risk of reinfection;
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the promotion of regionally-oriented training systems in support of disease recognition, disease diagnosis, disease reporting and the promotion of self-help disease alleviation measures at village level;
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the promotion of a policy of regional co-operation as a means of combatting all OIE list A diseases.