Celebrating Animal Health Milestones: 5 Countries Achieve Disease-Free Status in 2024

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has granted official recognition of animal health status to five countries in 2024, marking significant progress in controlling and eradicating highly contagious livestock diseases. This recognition is crucial for supporting national livestock economies and facilitating regional and international trade of animals and their products.

Achievements in Animal Health Status

• Azerbaijan: Declared free of peste des petits ruminants (PPR)

• Czech Republic and Norway: Achieved free status for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP)

• Egypt: Recognized as free from African horse sickness (AHS)

• Liechtenstein: Declared free of foot and mouth disease (FMD) without practising vaccination

These accomplishments highlight the effective disease control, prevention, and early detection measures implemented by these countries, enhancing their access to regional and international markets.

Ongoing Success and Future Goals

In addition to these new recognitions, WOAH also celebrates the maintenance of 385 officially recognized animal health statuses and endorsed control programs. This ongoing success underscores the global commitment to combating livestock diseases and promoting safe trade.

Endorsed Control Programs for Rabies

Members can submit their official control programs for four diseases for WOAH’s assessment. In 2023, Zambia received the endorsement of its official control program for dog-mediated rabies, following Namibia and the Philippines in 2022. This significant achievement supports the global goal of eliminating human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030, a disease that still causes approximately 59,000 human deaths annually.

Promoting Safe Trade and Livelihoods

The recognition of animal health status by WOAH not only acknowledges individual countries' achievements in disease control but also plays a pivotal role in promoting the safe trade of animal goods. This, in turn, improves the livelihoods of those dependent on the livestock sector.

For more information on WOAH's animal health status recognition and the global fight against livestock diseases, visit the official WOAH website.