Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) severely affects the productivity of livestock, disrupting regional and international trade in animals and animal products. The most significant impact of the disease in low and middle-income countries is losses in production, utility and income which together affect livelihoods and impact food security and nutrition of farmers.

The FMD roadmap meetings are organized under the umbrella of the FAO/OIE Global Framework for the progressive control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (GF-TADs), by its FMD Working Group, with the technical support from the European Commission for the Control of FMD (EuFMD)

The current global restrictions related to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are challenging conventional approaches for the organization of international events including regional FMD roadmap meetings. The GF-TADs FMD Working Group therefore applied a virtual format for the 3rd West Africa roadmap meeting, with operational support from the FAO Virtual Learning Centre for Southern Africa.

West Africa belongs to the FMDV Pool 5 (map here). Foot and mouth disease is endemic in all continental countries of West Africa, and four FMDV serotypes circulate: O, A, SAT 1 and SAT 2. Prior to this meeting, two FMD roadmap meetings for the West Africa region were held in 2016 and 2019.

FAO and the OIE would like to express their deep appreciation to all Member Countries of the West Africa Roadmap for Foot and Mouth Disease, the Economic Community of West African States’ Regional Animal Health Centre (Bamako, Mali), the National Veterinary Research Institute (Vom, Nigeria) and the Laboratoire National de l'Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires (Dakar, Senegal) for their commitment and contributions over the years and active participation in the 3rd West Africa Roadmap Meeting for Foot and Mouth Disease, which was organised with support from the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (through the project GCP/GLO/704/USA).