PROCINORTE pH1N1 and Animal Influenza Workshop

PROCINORTE pH1N1 and Animal Influenza Workshop - Ames, Iowa 2010

Participants PROCINORTE pH1N1 workshop, Ames Iowa

From left:Marcus Kehrli, Darrell Kapczynski, Sabrina Swenson, Ryan Moore,
Karen Burianek, Kurt Zuelke, Amy Vincent, Primal Silva, Soren Alexandersen,
Priscila Henriquez, Eileen Thacker, Montserrat Arroyo-Kuribrena, Arcelia Alvarado
Islas, John Pasick, Jose A Lopez, Erica Spackman, Edith Rojas, Sharon Calvin,
Kelly Lager, Marta Macias, Feliciano Milian Suazo, Janice Pederson, Lauro Velazquez

Researchers and regulatory authorities of Canada, Mexico and the US discussed their protocols to deal with influenza and other animal diseases during the PROCINORTE pH1N1 and Animal Influenza Workshop in Ames, October 13 and 14th. The meeting was organized by the Animal Health Task Force of the Cooperative Program in Agricultural Research and Technology for the Northern Region (PROCINORTE) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The objective of the meeting was to share the experiences of the three countries in researching and monitoring the pH1N1 and Animal Influenza pandemic, and to identify joint actions to deal with this and other emergencies at the trilateral level.

The meeting was attended by 25 participants from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS/USDA). Representatives of the Mexican National Animal Health Diagnostic Services Center (CENASA), the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (SENASICA), and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS/ USDA) also participated.

Dr. Kurt Zuelke, Director of the National Animal Disease Center stressed the importance that researchers and regulatory authorities from the three countries shared their knowledge in dealing with the H1N1 virus and pandemic.

Dr. Eileen Thacker, chair of the Task Force indicated that this was the first time that researchers and regulatory authorities of the three countries met to discuss how to deal with influenza and to plan for future outbreaks of this and other important animal diseases.

Dr. Priscila Henríquez, Executive Secretary of PROCINORTE indicated that this is a breakthrough within the PROCINORTE task forces and it follows the recommendations of the last Board of Directors (BOD) in the promotion of knowledge sharing about these important issues among the three member countries of PROCINORTE.

The Representative of IICA on the Board of Directors, Mr. David Hatch emphasized the unique nature of PROCINORTE as the only known organization organized to address agriculture related issues on a tri-lateral basis. He also recognized the work of the Task Force and its leadership and stressed that PROCINORTE will only be successful if the Task Forces are successful.

An action plan was outlined in which a team was established to identify research priorities and share a summary of projects, and review the standing agreements between the three governments for exchanging viruses and reagents for animal health.