Simulation exercise: Foot and mouth disease in Bulgaria

Dr Damyan Iliev, Executive Director of Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry of Bulgaria, informed the OIE that a simulation exercise on foot and mouth disease (FMD) will take place in Sofia Province, Bulgaria from 12 to 14 February 2019.

The simulation exercise is organized with the assistance of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) under Component 1.4 of its Workplan, aiming to provide continuous support in the improvement of contingency planning and emergency preparedness and response in the Balkans Region. As one of the pilot countries of the Guide to Exercises and Training (GET) Prepared Pathway, which aims to build on a preparedness plan based on simulation exercises and training events with a risk based approach, Bulgaria has agreed for a national approach to simulation exercises with the technical assistance of EuFMD.

The FMD contingency plan and operational manuals (SOPs) will be the central focus of the upcoming exercise and be tested and evaluated to determine its practical implementation.

The specific objectives of this exercise are to:

• strengthen capacities of the BFSA;
• support the development of the emergency response preparedness of the country;
• test the national contingency plan and SOPs;
• further develop capacity for assessment and improvement of preparedness on a regional level.

The exercise will test the abovementioned elements in field conditions in Sofia province. The format of the exercise will be as a series of drills testing specific practical skills required for an FMD investigation and confirmation and subsequent activities, followed by assessment of the implementation of the particular tasks and general discussion on outbreak management, planning and reporting.

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World Animal Health Information and Analysis Department
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)
[email protected]