Earlier this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) formed the African Swine Fever Global Pool of Expertise (ASF GPE) to tackle the monumental economic and food security challenges posed by ASF. It was a tremendous honor for me to have been invited to serve on the ASF GPE with 50 multi-disciplinary experts from around the world.
The group hopes to provide technical guidance for global ASF prevention and control that addresses technical gaps through appropriate evidence-based recommendations, good practices, and lessons learned. It also hopes to provide a unique opportunity for sharing global and inter-regional experiences and lessons to the benefit of more efficient ASF risk management. Subgroups will be meeting with a focus on epidemiology and surveillance, control interventions; socio-economics, private sector engagement; community engagement; laboratory diagnosis; and biosecurity. I am looking forward to helping the ASF GPE reach its objectives.