Inaugural meeting of the PPR – Global Research and Expertise Network

Inaugural meeting of the PPR – Global Research and Expertise Network (PPR-GREN) IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, 17th – 19th April, 2018.

The meeting was convened by the FAO and OIE, with the support of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, to launch a global network of researchers to support the Peste des petits ruminants Global Control and Eradication Strategy (PPR-GCES).  The aim of PPR-GCES is to achieve eradication of PPR by 2030, and PPR – GREN is envisaged primarily as a forum for scientific and technical exchange to support eradication and control programmes and to act as an advisory body to the FAO-OIE PPR Secretariat.  The meeting in Vienna, attended by about 60 participants representing a wide variety of relevant organizations, was built on a previous electronic conference organized by FAO and OIE and held from 3rd February to 7th March 2014.

The meeting comprised three main sections.  The initial part consisted of discussion and agreement on the terms of reference and rules of procedure of the network, followed by the election of the initial Bureau: Amado Diallo (Chairman), Amanda Fine, Jeremy Salt  (IVVN Network Management Board Member) and Hamidreza Varshovi and Barbara Wieland. There followed update reports from global and regional networks, including IAEA, Africa and Asia, and updates on the status of PPR research activities from various organizations at the meeting. The third section involved intense, working-group discussions to identify and prioritize the research needs and opportunities in four areas – Epidemiology, ecology and socio-economy; Laboratory diagnostic assays; Vaccine production, quality assurance and delivery; Outreach, advocacy and communication.  A communique for the meeting is being developed for further dissemination in the coming months.

Thank you to Dr. Phil Toye for writing this report for the IVVN. Phil is a Principal Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi and, in addition to PPR, his research focuses on the cattle disease East Coast fever and the diagnosis of zoonotic diseases.

Dr. Bouna Diop from FAO presented on the PPR Global Eradication Programme at the inaugural meeting of the IVVN in Nairobi on the 26th & 27th March 2018. For the full presentation, please click here.