A foreign animal disease (FAD) is an animal disease or pest, whether terrestrial or aquatic, not known to exist in the United States or its territories. When these diseases can significantly affect human health or animal production and when there is significant economic cost for disease control and eradication efforts, they are considered a threat to the United States. Another term gaining preference to be used is transboundary animal disease (TAD), which is defined as those epidemic diseases which are highly contagious or transmissible and have the potential for very rapid spread, irrespective of national borders, causing serious socio-economic and possibly public health consequences. An emerging animal disease "may be defined as any terrestrial animal, aquatic animal, or zoonotic disease not yet known or characterized, or any known or characterized terrestrial animal or aquatic animal disease in the United States or its territories that changes or mutates in pathogenicity, communicability, or zoonotic potential to become a threat to terrestrial animals, aquatic animals, or humans."
A foreign animal disease in the United States has the potential to threaten food security, cause production losses for livestock producers while significantly increasing livestock production costs through costly disease control measures, affect the income of livestock producers, disrupt movement of livestock and livestock products, cause animal welfare problems in affected animals, possibly cause public health issues, and cause environmental consequences with the wildlife populations.
Protecting US from FAD Agencies involved in response to outbreak World Organization for Animal Health (historical acronym OIE- the Office International des Epizooties) The OIE originated in 1924 with the ratification of an international agreement of 28 States on January 25, 1924. The membership currently shown (2017) is 181 members countries. This is the intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health worldwide, and is recognized as a reference organization by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The headquarters for the OIE are located in Paris. The objectives of the OIE are to "ensure transparency in the global animal disease situation", to "collect, analyse and disseminate veterinary scientific information", to "encourage international solidarity in the control of animal diseases", to "safeguard world trade by publishing health standards for international trade in animals and animal products", to improve the legal framework and resources of national Veterinary Services", and "to provide a better guarantee of food of animal origin and to promote animal welfare through a science-based approach".
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) The FAO is an intergovernmental organization of 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union, and headquartered in Rome, Italy. The FAO was initially established as a specialized United Nations agency in 1945 at the first session of FAO conference in Quebec City, Canada. The main effort of the FAO is to achieve food security for all, and their stated three main goals are: "the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; the elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and, the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations." The FAO creates and shares critical information about food, agriculture and natural resources by identifying and working with different partners with established expertise and facilitating connections. The FAO has a role in animal health. High-impact animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease or African swine fevers may not directly affect human health, but they do affect food and nutrition security and livestock production and trade. A recent successful example has been the global eradication of rinderpest in 2011. The FAO has animal health programs to establish best practices to prevent and control priority diseases which threaten animal production, public health and trade through its international and regional networks, animal health projects and disseminating practical information. These programs include:
The FAO Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) Animal Health develops strategies for intervention and improved management. It works to monitor and give early warning and ultimately to prevent animal diseases. The EMPRES works to prevent and control diseases at their source.
The Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) is FAO's corporate center for the planning and delivery of veterinary assistance to FAO member countries responding to the threat of transboundary animal health crises.
The FAO Food Chain Crisis Management Framework, grouping the three thematic EMPRES, provides an effective, multidisciplinary and coherent approach to threats affecting the food chain by integrating prevention, early warning, preparedness and response.
The Crisis Management Centre-Animal Health (CMC-AH) is FAO's rapid response unit to animal disease emergencies. The CMC-AH is a joint division of FAO's Animal Production and Health and Emergency and Rehabilitation Divisions, and established in partnership with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The CMC-AH sends rapid response missions to countries to help assess epidemiological situations, diagnose outbreaks of animal diseases, and set up immediate measure to prevent or stop disease spread.
USDA/APHIS The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and is the lead agency in an animal disease outbreak. APHIS is divided into 6 operational program units, 3 management support units, and 2 offices supporting federal government-wide initiatives. One of the APHIS operational program units is Veterinary Services.
Veterinary Services (VS) The VS protects and improves the health, quality, and marketability of the animals, animal products, and veterinary biologics of the United States by preventing, controlling, and/or eliminating animal diseases, and monitoring, and promoting animal health and productivity. The VS has primary responsibility in a disease outbreak involving domestic livestock and/or poultry. The VS is divided into three operational units:
The Surveillance, Preparedness and Response Services (SPRS) unit manages disease outbreaks (animal health incident management), surveillance programs, animal disease traceability programs, epidemiological investigations, commodity business planning, and One Health programs. The SPRS also manages the Logistics Center, which includes the National Veterinary Stockpile. Also part of the SPRS is the National Preparedness and Incident Coordination Center (NPIC), which has the responsibility for animal disease traceability, The National Animal Health Emergency Response Corps, the National Veterinary Accreditation Program, and Preparedness and Incident Coordination. The activities of the NPIC include developing and distributing emergency response guidelines based on the National Incident Management System and National Response Framework, developing foreign animal disease preparedness and response plans (FAD PReP), coordinating investigations and disseminating information about foreign animal disease investigations and events, supporting the Secure Food Supply Plans, and managing at the Emergency Management Response System (a web-based information management system that stores data on FAD investigations, animal health incidents, epidemiological tracing, disease surveillance, and intrastate and interstate animal movement.)
The National Import Export Services (NIES) unit manages import and export activities, from setting policy to inspection at ports of entry. NIES manages Animal Import Centers and Port Services, the Agricultural Select Agent Program, and the International Animal Health Standards Services, and operates six service centers, several animal quarantine facilities, and multiple ports of entry.
The Science, Technology and Analysis Services (STAS) includes the Center for Veterinary Biologics, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, and the Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health. The STAS provides analysis of response options; animal disease modeling; animal health data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; animal health surveillance design; diagnostic capability and capacity; economic analysis; national animal health laboratory network coordination; national studies and large scale epidemiological investigations; OIE Collaborating Center; predictive modeling; risk assessments; veterinary biologics approval and monitoring regulatory activities.