Developing a disease prevention strategy in the Caribbean: the importance of assessing animal health-related risks at regional level

Abstract

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Also, the designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Content and errors are exclusively the responsibility of the author.

An overview of food safety and bacterial foodborne zoonoses in food production animals in the Caribbean region

“…It is recognized that in order to assure the safety of food of animal origin, zoonotic pathogens in foods have to be controlled through a continuous farm to fork system, which should take into account not only the assessment of risks but also technical possibilities, consumers’ attitude/behaviors, and cost-benefit analysis (Nastasijević 2000 ). Several studies recognize the need for effective surveillance systems to identify sources of disease (Nastasijević 2000 ; Pires et al 2011 ) and the integration of animal health, food pathogen, and foodborne disease surveillance globally and especially in developing and in-transition countries (de Balogh et al 2013 ; Vidal et al 2013 ) and specifically in the Americas and the Caribbean region (PercedoAbreu et al 2011 ; Hulebak et al 2013 ; Gebreyes et al 2014 ). Effective surveillance of animal diseases is in fact a priority for the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (Corning 2014 ), and tools are available nowadays to prioritize zoonoses using a One Health perspective in a way to minimize fiscal and personal limitations as well as the absence of comprehensive prevalence data.…”

“…To overcome these limitations, national and regional organizations such as the Caribbean Animal Health Network (CaribVET) are increasingly committed to implementing or improving established surveillance systems according to a One Health approach. Results from a survey conducted by CaribVET in 2009 “Prevention of contamination of the human food chain” was identified as the most important area for the application of risk assessment methodologies to select animal health issues (Percedo Abreu 2011 ). This result was correlated with the influence of environmental characteristics of the Caribbean tropical area and the growing importance of tourism in the islands.…”

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“…Within the scope of the studies on eradication of animal epidemic diseases in Turkey, 1978-dated regulation was abolished in 2009, and the Bovine Tuberculosis Regulation in line with the European Union Legislation was issued [10]. The procedures regarding the determination of the methods of struggle for the conduct of the eradication program of the disease, detection of the disease, infected areas, procedures of after slaughtering, transportation operations, detection of arylic, agent from bovine tuberculosis were regulated by the new procedures and principles in the regulation [10]. Most of the developed countries use applications such as testing, disposal and pasteurization of milk in the eradication of the disease [11].…”

“…Movements Control Circular [18]. Therefore, this study was conducted considering the studies on the evaluation of disease risks at the regional level in the disease prevention strategies related to animal health [10].…”