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February 27, 2008
How Did a Foodborne Disease Impact European Policies?
In November 1986, the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - BSE - is first identified by the UK's Central Veterinary Laboratory. Vets and scientists are puzzled. They conclude BSE is a "prion" disease like scrapie and suggest it could have been caused by infected animal carcasses or offal processed into cattle feed. 2 years later, the British government sets up the Southwood Working Party to look into concerns that BSE is entering the human food chain. A ban on the use of meat and bone meal feed is brought in along with a slaughter policy for all affected cattle. The use of milk for human consumption from suspect cows is also banned. In 1992, the BSE cases peak occurs: 3 cows in every 1000 in Britain have the disease. In 1994 the use of animal protein in animal feed is banned throughout the EU - with the exception of Denmark. The European Commission allows beef-on-the-bone exports only from cattle certified to have come from holdings where there has been no sign of BSE in the previous 6 years.
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The Veterinarian's Role
These two trips dovetailed the information much better than I ever expected. The result was a thorough understanding of the global food chain, not just ensuring that your slaughterhouse is clean or your pigs are healthy.
The veterinarian’s traditional role has been to ensure that only safe medications are used on feed animals, that zoonoses are treated/prevented, and that the animals appreciate an adequate quality of life (welfare).
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February 20, 2008
Reflections on the EIO Tour
The Engaging Intergovernmental Organizations (EIO) tour was an excellent opportunity for anyone who is interested in an international career or is involved in international veterinary issues. As the global economy develops and diseases continue to spread throughout the world, having an understanding of the international organizations as well as their respective roles and relationships, brings new insights into the current and potential roles of the veterinarian. This tour provided a wealth of information on the interactions between agencies and the dynamics of the agencies themselves. Having had previous experience with some of the agencies visited served as a platform for me to build upon my knowledge of these organizations, and allowed me to focus more on potential opportunities for AVMA rather than focusing on grasping the extreme complexity of these organizations and their functions.
In addition, the broad range of participants brought an excellent opportunity for understanding and building relationships within our own domestic organizations. As a collective group, the participants presented a well balanced veterinary perspective. They were excellent in communicating with each other as well as communicating with the international organizations that we had visited.
All in all, an incredibly valuable and worthwhile experience.
Christine Hoang, DVM
Assistant Director, Scientific Activities Division
American Veterinary Medical Association
February 16, 2008
Photos from the EIO Trip in Europe
February 15, 2008
FAO in Rome and Reflections on a Unique Experience
We spent the final day of the program at the FAO, just across the street from Circo Massimo. Dr. Katinka de Balogh, Senior Officer in the Veterinary Public Health, coordinated the day’s lectures and was a phenomenal host. The day began with a welcome from the directors of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division and Animal Production and Health Division, Dr. Ezzeddine Boutrif and Dr. Samuel Jutzi, respectively. Dr. Boutrif and Dr. Jutzi provided us with an overview of the divisions and the direction of their work. The remainder of the morning was filled with a series of lectures that provided background on how FAO is organized and operates with a focus on food safety including standard setting through Codex Alimentarius, and the role of FAO in capacity building.
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Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Today we meet with officials from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Katinka de Balogh, a Senior Officer in Veterinary Public Health guided us through a day of meetings and presentations with FAO officials and scientists as follows:
Ezzeddine Boutrif, Director of Nutrition and Consumer Protection and Samuel Jutzi, Director of Animal Production and Health Division provided the opening remarks.
Selma Doyran, a senior officer, Food Standards and Secretariat for Codex Alimentarius Commission, Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division made a presentation on Codex Alimentarius and showed a short promotional video.
Lordes Costarrica, Senior Officer in Food Safety, Food Quality and Standards Services made a presentation on scientific advice for standards setting.
Maya Piñiero, Food Quality and Safety Officer in Food Safety, Food Quality and Standards Services Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division made a presentation on Biosecurity
Reneta Clark, A nutrition officer in Quality and Standards Services Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division made a presentation on food safety policy
Scott Newman, International Wildlife Coordinator with Animal Health Service in the Animal Production and Health Division spoke about wild birds and HPAI
Jan Slingenbergh, Senior Officer in Animal Health Service in Animal Production and Health Division spoke about customizing animal health policies to the poultry intensification process with Avian Influenza as an example
Gary Brickler, Planning Coordinator, Crisis Management Center gave a tour and answered questions about the FAO Crisis Management Center
Juan Lubroth, Senior Officer and Head of EMPRES in Animal Health Services, Animal Production and Health Division made a presentation about the Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES) for transboundry animal and plant pest and diseases and the global livestock early warning system
Anni McLeod, Senior Officer, Livestock Policy, Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch of Animal Production and Health Division talked about the animal health policy program in the Animal Health Production and Health Division.
The FAO is located in the Caracalla district of Rome which named for it’s proximity to the Baths of Caracalla originally constructed in 212 A.D.
At the close of the day, the group gathered for a farewell dinner at Lo Scopettaro, a little restaurant located a few blocks from our hotel. We had a three-hour feast of rustic Roman cuisine. There was much toasting and lively conversation thanks to Will, who encouraged participants to shift seats between courses. Musicians entertained us with guitar, tambourine, accordion music and classic Dean Martin tunes such as That’s Amore and Volare.
Most of the group departs on Saturday; some are taking a few extra days for sight seeing or tagging on other meetings.
February 14, 2008
Travel to Rome
Today is a travel day. We are flying from Geneva to Rome. The flight took about 1.5 hours and we landed on time. Arranging taxi and/or van service was more complicated than expected but we were able to negotiate a price for three vans to transport everyone to the hotel. Upon getting their room assignment, most participants set out sightseeing, many visiting the ruins of Ancient Rome, a short walk from our hotel.
February 13, 2008
WTO and WHO, Geneva, Switzerland
The morning of Day 3 was spent on a train between Paris and Geneva, enjoying the scenery and flipping through my guidebook to decide how to spend a few free evening hours. That afternoon we walked through the city to the WTO where Christiane Wolff did a wonderful job addressing the group’s questions about the role of the WTO in animal health and food safety policy.
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World Health Organization (WHO)
Today is our day at the World Health Organization (WHO) and we are meeting with officials from the Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases (FOS) including:
Danilo Lo-Fo-Wong, FOS scientist
Welcome and overview of WHO food safety network and building global capacity
Bernadette Abela-Riddler, FOS scientist
Global Early Warning Systems (GLEWS) for Major Animal Diseases including Zoonosis
Elizabeth Mumford, Technical Officer, Global Influenza Program
Avian Influenza and the Human-Animal Interface
Fernando Gonzalez-Martin, International Health Regulation
International Health Regulations
Jennifer Bishop, FOS Scientist
International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)
James Zimmerly, Technical Officer
Visit and overview of the WHO Strategic Health Operations Center (SHOC Room).
Very cool!
At the close of the day, Peter Jones with the International Federation for Animal Health (IFAH) made a presentation on “Fostering International Public-Private Partnerships”.
The trip to the WHO was an easy public transportation ride and walk up the hill. We passed the famous sculpture, The Broken Chair, dedicated to victims of land mines, the United Nations Building, and a River Blindness sculpture of a boy leading a blind man with a stick. Participants, faculty and guests dined on traditional Swiss fare including fondue and cured meats at Edelweiss restaurant. We enjoyed entertainment by Swiss musicians playing an assortment of instruments including accordion, alphorn, cowbells and saws. Guests were invited to try the alphorn – several from our group gave it a go including Will Hueston, Morgan Hennessey and Mary Avriette. It is off to Rome on Thursday.
February 12, 2008
World Trade Organization (WTO)
We are making use of the Paris Metro for reliable and inexpensive transportation and will travel through the city to Gare de Lyon, one of the main train stations in Paris, to board a train bound to Geneva this morning at 11:20 a.m. The train ride through Paris during rush hour with 22 people and luggage in tow went smoothly.
The ride from Paris to Geneva was great. We arrived in Geneva at the Cornavin station located a short walk from our hotel. After check in, we reconvened in the hotel lobby and walked to the tram stop just up the street from our hotel to our first meeting in Geneva at the World Trade Organization (WTO) at 3:00 p.m.
WTO is a lovely old building located on the lake and is undergoing some restoration. Our host Christiane Wolff, an economist with WTO assigned to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures Program, gave a tour of one of the delegate rooms and settled us into a meeting room. She gave an overview of the WTO's role as a negotiating forum, rules maker for goods, services and intellectual policy, and a place to settle disputes. She went into a good amount of detail about the SPS, which essentially sets measures to protect human or animal health, human life, animal and plant life - things like Avian Influenza, import bans, surveillance system info, pre-export treatment, HACCP traceability, processing regulations etc.
February 11, 2008
World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
Day one completed and what a good day it was. We were honored to have the Director General for the OIE, Bernard Vallat, welcome the group.
OIE director of Trade, Sara Kahn spoke about OIE structure and standards; following that, there was a presentation on the World Animal Health Information System and Database. Alex Thiermann, International Organization Coordinator, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) and our on-the-ground person in Paris, reviewed OIE objectives. Thomas Pavie with the Ministry of Agriculture and Olivier Fanere with the National Veterinary Services made a presentation about the French Organization for Animal Health and Food Safety.
Following the presentations there were small group sessions and the participants worked on case studies.
The OIE building experienced a fire over the weekend prior to our arrival. Subsequently, the heating system was out. We were all chilled by the end of the day and welcomed the warmth of dinner at Les Messugues, a lovely little French restaurant located just around the corner from our hotel. The food was wonderful but then, there is, perhaps, no bad food in France.
February 10, 2008
Arrival in Paris
All the participants and faculty arrived in Paris and checked into the hotel. We gathered in the lobby at 5:30, distributed course materials, name badges, and then, walked to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) building for a welcome reception with our hosts. We enjoyed a wonderful assortment of French cheeses, breads and wine. Participants appreciated the opportunity to get acquainted.
Paris - An Impressive Experience
After rearranging my life to make this trip happen, I arrived in Paris for Day 1 and 2 at the OIE. This was not meant to be a sightseeing endeavor and I was not expecting one. I wanted to spend as much time as possible meeting people working in these international organizations and learning about how they function. I was not disappointed. The first evening was spent meeting Dr. Alejandro Thiermann, Advisor to the Director General, President of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and our gracious host at the OIE, as well as fellow program participants.
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February 09, 2008
At the Market
Today we rode the bus into the Hague and took a train to the town of Gouda. Jan Bloemendal, a Policy Officer with the Ministry, joined us. Here we took a short walk into the town marketplace to see if we could find identification stamps on the food in the marketplace and the local grocery store.
After our journey back to the hotel, Jan spoke to us about the European Food Safety Authority located in Parma, Italy. Then we all ate a nice farewell meal together and said good-bye!
February 08, 2008
On the Road
We had a very early start today! 7:00am and we’re on the road to Wageningen. Our first meeting is with Dr. Francine van Rossem, the Director of TrusQ – a feed safety program cooperative of seven feed mills in the Netherlands and two in Belgium.
We then took an interesting tour of the Rijnvalei Feed Mill. Our hosts were Albert Getkate, Director, and Aart Wemmers, Quality Control.
Back into the van for our journey to VION Fresh Meat where we met with the Director of Quality Assurance, Dr. Bert Urlings and the Technical Quality Director, Jeroen Reijers. Here we suited up and had a tour of the abattoir.
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