Guyana is set to host the 37th Meeting of South American Commission for the Control against Foot-and-Mouth Disease (COSALFA) for the first time at the Guyana International Conference Centre on May 11-12, a press release from the Agriculture Ministry stated.
The Commission is made up of the directors of the official animal health services and by a representative of the affiliations of livestock producers of each of the 11 South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.
The COSALFA has a purpose to act as a regional coordination mechanism to promote lines of action and co-ordinate and evaluate the activities carried out for foot-and-mouth disease control, development of epidemiological models and eradication in the continent.
The Commission meets annually to advise, evaluate and co-ordinate programmes and agreements of the region on foot-and-mouth and other vesicular diseases. It is considered as the Permanent Sub-Regional Commission and institutionalised by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the countries.
Presentations regarding the status of FMD in the South American continent will be a focus, and projects and programmes regarding eradication and prevention procedures among countries will also be discussed.
The meeting will also see the participation of representatives from the official veterinary services, organisations of the livestock producers of South American countries and the industry of animal transformation, veterinary pharmaceuticals industry, diagnostic laboratories, centres of higher education, research institutes and agencies of international technical and financial co-operation.
Guyana is one of two countries in South America free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination, a status which it is committed to maintain at all cost. (GINA)