The OIE Focal Points for Wildlife from 25 Member Countries of the Americas took part in the fourth cycle of the Training Workshop on Wildlife. This workshop was held in Asuncion, Paraguay, from March 21 to 23, 2017, thanks to the support of the Maris Llorens Foundation and the Paraguayan Government.
Focal Points met to increase their knowledge on their roles and responsibilities with the purpose of strengthening the implementation of OIE Standards. Implementation of OIE standards has the purpose of improving animal health and welfare worldwide, taking into account the relationship between domestic animals, wildlife and humans in the ecosystem.
The Workshop was officially opened by Dr Hugo Idoyaga, President of SENACSA and OIE Delegate from Paraguay as well as OIE Council Member, Dr Luis Barcos, OIE Regional Representative for the Americas, Ms Maris Llorens, OIE Goodwill Ambassador and Director of the Foundation that bears her name, and Dr Marcos Medina, Livestock Vice Minister. Also, the President of the Paraguayan Rural Association, Dr Luis Villasanti, the Directors of different SENACSA departments as well as Dr Emerio Serrano, OIE Sub Regional Representative for Central America, were present.
At this ceremony, Ms Llorens highlighted that this is the first time that a meeting related to wildlife is celebrated in Paraguay, as well as the importance of learning more about wildlife diseases which are still unknown. Such situation requires learning much more in order to know how to proceed if something happens.
The workshop addressed relevant issues to the Focal Points duties and included an update on technical subjects related to the design of epidemiological surveillance plans for wildlife diseases, as well as laboratory diagnostic tests. Since Focal Points have an important role on diseases notification, there was a session focused on the use of the WAHIS-Wild interface, which allows the access to information on wildlife health events worldwide.
In addition, participants had the chance to share their working experiences and to take part in guided discussions.
The OIE will continue with this global training plan for Focal Points for wildlife as well as for other areas of competence.
