Respond: Command, control and communicate
office of the CVO. The epidemiology unit should either be attached to the NDCC or should work in close collaboration with it. The CVO may delegate day-to-day responsibilities for implementing agreed policy to the head of the Centre, who would most likely also be the Director of Field Veterinary Services. The NDCC also should have an experienced communications officer who serves as an advisor to the CVO in relation to media and public information and may be designated as spokesperson for the event. The responsibilities of the NDCC in the emergency response would include: • implementing the disease-control policies decided by the CVO and the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases (CCEAD); • directing and monitoring the operations of LDCCS; • deployment of staff and other resources to the local centres; • ordering and dispersing vaccines and other essential supplies; • monitoring the progress of the campaign and providing technical advice to the CVO; • advising the CVO on the definition and proclamation of the various disease-control zones; • liaising with other groups involved in the emergency response, including those that may be activated as part of the national disaster plan; • preparing international disease reports and, at the appropriate times, cases for recognition of zonal or national freedom from the disease; • managing farmer awareness and general publicity programmes, including press releases; • conducting general and financial administration, including the keeping of records. The NDCC should be fully equipped with meeting rooms, a range of maps covering all parts of the country (preferably at 1:50,000), and all suitable communication equipment for liaising with LDCCs, veterinary laboratories, etc. by telephone, radio, e-mail and facsimile, as appropriate. The Centre should also be linked with the management information system previously described in this manual.
Local (ANIMAL) Disease Control Centres During an emergency, one or more LDCCs should be set up within easy reach of, and preferably within, the infected zones of the disease outbreak. If at all possible, they should be sited such that teams are able to travel to and from any site that they need to for surveillance or any other disease-control activities on the same day. In some circumstances, where distances are not great, these LDCCs could be established on a permanent basis in a regional or district veterinary or agricultural office. Otherwise, possible locations for temporary LDCCs (e.g. local government offices) should be identified and negotiated in advance. The LDCC should be fully equipped with: • offices; • meeting rooms; • maps of the local area (consider 1:50,000 and 1:10,000 scale); • map preparation facilities enabling disease development to be recorded and displayed; • communication equipment to contact field personnel and the NDCC; • vehicles; and • fully stocked central stores.
75
