Briefing note

World + 1 more

Overview

Transboundary animal diseases (TADs) can spread rapidly irrespective of national borders. There are many TADs that can result in high incidence of disease and death in animals, thereby having serious socioeconomic and sometimes public health consequences while constituting a constant threat to the livelihoods of livestock farmers and the food security of the communities they serve.

Established in 2004, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) plans and delivers animal health assistance to more than 49 countries responding to the threat of high-impact diseases. By helping to avoid national, regional and global spread, the work of ECTAD contributes to the protection of people and animals from disease and other health threats.

ECTAD multidisciplinary teams deliver FAO Animal Health programmes, funded by Australia, the Republic of Korea, FAO internal funding, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America – Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

The One Health approach is embedded in the work of ECTAD. Zoonotic transmission occurs at the human–animal–environment interface and cross-disciplinary work at all levels is enhanced by the nature of ECTAD’s multidisciplinary global network.