Rinderpest Disease (Hansard, 4 December 2002)

§ John Barrett
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what evidence has been collected by her Department indicating the potential for a resurgence in the Rinderpest livestock disease in Africa. [84633]
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§ Clare Short
The history of Rinderpest outbreaks points to the potential for rinderpest to undergo resurgence wherever the virus persists within a population.
Investigations by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Operation Lifeline Sudan and the Pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) indicate that eradication campaigns have now been successful in removing persistent foci of Rinderpest virus in Southern Sudan, although definitive confirmation is not yet possible. The main challenge is therefore the South Somali pastoral ecosystem that has shown itself to have the potential to infect populations in both Kenya and Tanzania. Unregulated trade—particularly the Informal' trade routes—could potentially export the disease further afield.
In addition to the funds that the UK provides to pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) by way of the EC, DFID also directly funds the Community-based Animal Health and Participatory Epidemiology unit of the African Union's Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources. This unit is developing community-based animal heath delivery and surveillance systems which enable rinderpest vaccination and early warning of potential outbreaks to be carried out in the remote areas where rinderpest has persisted.

§ John Barrett
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what precautionary steps are being taken to ensure the trade of cattle across the Red Sea does not result in the spread of Rinderpest disease. [84634]

§ Clare Short
The sanitary control of livestock imports remains the responsibility of importing countries. Saudi Arabia has banned the import of cattle from Somalia, but informal trade, which is much less susceptible to regulation, probably persists across the Red Sea. Efforts are therefore needed to identify and control the persistence of Rinderpest virus at source. To this end DFID and the EC have been working in partnership with the African Union's Bureau for Animal Resources, the EC-funded pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics (PACE) programme and the Office International des Epizooties (the O.I.E.—the world organisation for Animal Health) to assist African countries in Rinderpest eradication, and subsequently in meeting the requirements of the O.I.E. 'Pathway', which leads to international recognition of Rinderpest freedom for the benefit of importing countries.
In particular, through its DFID-funded Community Based Animal Health and Participatory Epidemiology (CAPE) initiative AU/IBAR has developed service delivery systems that are capable of delivering mass vaccination in marginal areas such as the Somali pastoral eco-system, even in the presence of conflict, and of maintaining disease surveillance and early warning systems that feed into national systems.

§ John Barrett
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the latest levels of Rinderpest disease in(a) Southern Somalia and (b) Northern Kenya. [84635]
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§ Clare Short
Southern Somalia and Northern Kenya together comprise the Somali "pastoral ecosystem". Following the successes of recent years in eliminating the virus elsewhere, the Somali ecosystem constitutes what is probably the last reservoir of Rinderpest infection in the world.
Through DFID's long-standing involvement in Rinderpest control our understanding of the factors underpinning the disease and its persistence within pastoral ecosystems highlights the importance of several factors. These include: The periods of drought which affect both Northern Kenya and South Somalia (forcing herders to migrate further with their livestock when they occur); The ecosystem's remoteness and underdevelopment; Conflict and civil war, which hamper control and surveillance efforts-particularly in Somalia.
DFID's direct involvement in efforts to eradicate the virus (which comprises financial support to the African Union's Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources and partnerships with EU-funded regional disease control programmes) has therefore been complemented by broader programmes in the fields of sustainable development, of vulnerability management through good governance and of conflict resolution.
The fact that the Somali ecosystem is now believed to contain the last remaining foci of the disease underlines the considerable achievements that have been made in the field of Rinderpest eradication in the last fifteen years. The target for global eradication stands at 2010. The indications are that this target is achievable.