He said these while speaking at a side event of the ‘FAO Global Conference for Actions on One Health in Agrifood Systems’ organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy.
The State Minister said Bangladesh is continuing nationwide vaccination and surveillance activities to control PPR and is committed to achieving PPR-free status by 2030. Since no outbreak was detected in surveillance, a dossier for the PPR eradication programme was submitted to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in September 2025.
He informed that Bangladesh has formulated an FMD control strategy for the 2025-2028 period. Six phases of targeted FMD vaccination have already been completed and the seventh phase is ongoing. In addition, clinical management guidelines for FMD and field-level guidelines on investigating and responding to animal disease outbreaks have been developed.
The State Minister further said there is global concern over the SAT-1 serotype of FMD. Although it has not yet been detected in Bangladesh, there is a risk due to border crossings, livestock movement, imports of related materials, and increased animal movement during Eid-ul-Azha. He emphasized strengthening coordinated global and regional initiatives to tackle this risk.
Representatives from Tanzania, Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Mongolia, the African Union and the European Union took part in the panel discussion.
