Booklet on PACE success stories.

When Rinderpest was introduced to Africa in the late 19th Century, the pandemic killed up to90% of cattle and other susceptible wildlife species. The disease has plagued the Africancontinent since then due to the presence of large numbers of domestic and wild animals, theinadequacy of veterinary services, nomadic husbandry practices and insecurity. Concertedaction to eradicate the disease, commencing with the "Joint Project 15", implemented by theOrganization of African Unity/ Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (OAU/IBAR) inthe 1960s and 1970s followed by the Pan African Rinderpest Campaign (PARC) in the mid1980s and the Pan African Control of Epizootics (PACE) in the late 1990s, succeeded ineradicating Rinderpest from most of Africa with the exception of the so called mild strain ofthe virus in the "Somali Eco-system", an area of land that encompass South East Ethiopia,North East Kenya and Southern Somalia.The PACE Programme, which is in its final phase (November 1999 to February 2007) wasconceptualized to build on the headway made by the Pan African Rinderpest EradicationProgramme (PARC) (1986 to 1999) in the campaign against Rinderpest. The PARC has lastedfrom 1986 to 1999 and has been co-financed by the European Community (EC). PARC has beena follow up of the Joint project 15 (JP15) (1962 to 1976) also aimed at fighting the Rinderpest inAfrica. All these actions have already done a great deal to improve health security by combatingRinderpest, one of the most devastating contagious diseases of cattle.Taking advantage of PARC's achievements, a fundamental objective of PACE was to continuethe establishment of effective surveillance systems for animal diseases in 30 countries involvedin the programme. Such surveillance is essential for an effective veterinary service in anycountry as is indicated by the requirement for adequate disease reporting (OIE, 2002). Thuswithout effective surveillance for important animal diseases, particularly those that affect tradein livestock and livestock products, human health or the economics of animal production, aveterinary service will not be considered reliable. Increasingly, the World Organization ofAnimal Health (OIE) provided a mechanism whereby member countries may apply forrecognition of freedom from specific diseases, such as Rinderpest, foot and mouth disease(FMD), contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia (CBPP) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy(BSE). In order to apply successfully it is necessary for the country concerned to demonstrate,irrespective of the requirement for individual diseases, that it has an effective veterinary servicewhich, as already indicated, includes an effective surveillance system. Consequently, allapplications for freedom from disease need to be supported by surveillance data. For thisreason, in the context of globalisation the establishment of surveillance system has become apriority for veterinary services in countries, which would like to take part in the internationaltrade of livestock and animal by-products.In particular, Rinderpest eradication is a global objective and the African Union / Inter AfricanBureau for Animal Resources (AU / IBAR), through the Pan African Programme for the Controlof Epizootics (PACE) has been for 7 years spearheading its eradication in the African continent.