The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) Media Advisory is to launch a global PPR control and eradication campaign to get rid of sheep and goat plague, known in French as “peste des petits ruminants” (PPR) by 2030.

A statement issued by the FAO and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday said the conference will take place in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire from March 31 to April 2.

Goats and sheep plague in many countries are increasingly threatened by PPR, the statement added.

It said representatives from around 70 countries will be in attendance, and will include Ministers of States, OIE National Delegates; Dr José Graziano da Silva, the Director-General of the FAO, Dr Bernard Vallat, Director-General of OIE, donor agencies, the scientific community, the private sector and civil societies.

The conference will discuss and endorse the global control and eradication strategy that will launch the global PPR control and eradication campaign, aimed to eliminate the virus by 2030.

The statement said the conference will provide an update on the latest scientific developments related to PPR, and will highlight experiences from previous control programmes that have a positive socio-economic impact for poor farmers around the world.

It noted that the Conference will give participants the opportunity to state their support for the PPR campaign, and improvement of small ruminant health and veterinary policies and activities worldwide.

The statement said PPR is a highly contagious viral disease, and causes losses of between 1.5 and two billion dollars every year.

It observed that PPR has spread to around 70 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, to regions where hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest people live.

The statement said poor farmers and their families rely on small ruminants for food, such as meat, milk and other products to generate daily income.

It said sheep and goats also are an investment and a unique asset for poor families in times of crises like natural disasters.

“Women’s livelihoods are particularly threatened, since women make up the majority of those caring for and raising small ruminants. But PPR can be defeated, as proven by the example of Rinderpest, which in 2011, became the first animal disease to be eradicated by humankind,” it stated.

The statement observed that eradication of PPR will have a major positive impact, not only on the livelihoods of poor farmers, but also on the post?2015 Development Goals and the UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge.

The Conference will also highlight the role played by the veterinary profession in poverty alleviation and food security, the statement added.