The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is one of the organizations responsible for implementing an epidemiological surveillance program aimed at eradicating foot and mouth disease in the Chaco region of Paraguay, launched on September 25.

The US$315,000 program is financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and will build up the infrastructure of the National Animal Quality and Health Service (SENACSA) in specific areas of the country.

During the launching of the program, letters of understanding were signed that call for SENACSA to execute the program in cooperation with IICA

One objective of the program is to prevent the introduction or spread of the foot and mouth virus through the implementation of coordinated actions in the border region of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.

According to the U.S. Ambassador in Paraguay, James Cason “Depending on the outcome of this project, the U.S. Government is very interested in working with SENACSA, livestock farmers and IICA to develop other projects that will help Paraguay to eradicate this disease.”

He noted that the USDA’s contribution was equivalent to 20% of the total amount of resources it had earmarked for efforts to combat this disease in South America.