Session V The cross-border movement of animal pathogens can lead to dramatic social and economic consequences. Therefore countries implement prevention measures (e.g. surveillance, border controls and trade restrictions) to reduce the probability of entry of new pathogens. However, resources available for such risk mitigation measures are limited, especially considering the large number of potential source areas and different pathways of entry of the pathogens. We propose a simple and easy-to-use tool to monitor the risk of introduction of foot and mouth and similar transboundary (FAST) animal diseases (Peste des Petits Ruminants, Lumpy Skin Disease, Rift Valley Fever, Sheep and Goat Pox) with the aim of assisting health authorities to identify the most likely routes and source countries for the introduction of these diseases.

1. EuFMD
OS22
Risk Monitoring Tool for FAST diseases
(RMT-FAST): a semi-quantitative
framework to estimate the risk of
disease introduction
R. Condoleo1,2*, M. McLaws1, G. Caceres Garrido3, R. Á. Caballero
Caballero3, R. Fernandez González3, F. Rosso1
1 Food and Agriculture Organization - The European
Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease
(EuFMD)
2 Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della
Toscana “M. Aleandri”
3 Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – General Sub-
Directorate of health agreements and border control

2. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 2
What is RMT-FAST?
- «Risk Assessment» -> Estimate the likelihood of
incursion of exotic diseases from a source area to a
target area
- «Generic» -> it can be adapted to different diseases
or areas of interest or pathways
- They aim to prioritize :
- 1) Diseases -> what’s the hazard?
- 2) Areas -> from where?
- 3) Pathways -> how does the hazard enter?
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases
Generic Risk Assessment Frameworks
(GRAF) for disease incursion

3. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 3
Why RMT-FAST?
- Differences in term of :
- Aims (i.e. entry vs establishment, areas vs diseases)
- Pathogens (i.e. one vs multiple pathogens at time,
only vector-borne…)
- Area of interest (i.e. single vs pooled countries)
- Pathways (number of distinct pathways considered)
- Platform (Excel, R, SQLite, C#, Visual Studio)
- Data collection (few vs many parameters, rapid vs
time consuming)
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases
Generic Risk Assessment Frameworks
(GRAF) for disease introduction
From De Vos et al. (2019) Cross-Validation of Generic Risk Assessment Tools for
Animal Disease Incursion Based on a Case Study for African Swine Fever. Front. Vet.
Sci. 7:56
- Some GRAF have been developed in the recent years
- Every GRAF has pros and cons… There is not a perfect GRAF

4. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 4
Why RMT-FAST?
Key Features
- Covering FMD and other 4 FAST major diseases (LSD, PPR,
RVF, SGP)
- Considering main pathways of pathogen incursion
- Simple, easy-to-use, understand and update
Aim
Create a tool able to periodically monitor the likelihood of
entry of FAST diseases in one target country from multiple
neighbouring countries
Business illustrations by Storyset
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases

5. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 5
Behind RMT-FAST
Methodology
- Only 5 Parameters:
1. Disease prevalence (EuFMD)
2. Mitigation measures (EuFMD)
3. Pathway effectiveness (Built-in)
4. Linkages between connections and pathways (Built-in)
5. Connection score (User)
- RMT-FAST is a semi-quantitative tool
Risk score = disease risk * sum across pathways (pathway effectiveness*connection strength for that pathway)
Disease burden minus
mitigation
Airborne, vector, wildlife, animal
product, live animals, fomites
Geographic proximity, import live animals, import
animal products, illegal importation of animal
products, transport connection by land/air/sea,
high livestock density near border
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases

6. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22
RMT-FAST in practice
Pilot with Spain
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases
Region Country FMD PPR LSD RVF SGP
North Africa Mauritania 18 14 42 42 21
North Africa Morocco 6 24 0 0 42
North Africa Tunisia 16 18 0 0 28
North Africa Algeria 9 18 0 0 31.5
North Africa Mali 21 14 42 42 21
SEEN Afghanistan 0 0 0 0 0
SEEN Pakistan 15 10 24 0 18
SEEN Iraq 0 0 0 0 0
SEEN Turkey 9 6 12 0 9
SEEN Georgia 0 0 0 0 0
SEEN Armenia 0 0 0 0 0
SEEN Azerbaijan 0 0 0 0 0
SEEN Iran 0 0 0 0 0
Middle East Syria 0 0 0 0 0
Middle East Palestine 0 0 0 0 0
Middle East Sudan 0 0 0 0 0
Middle East Libya 6 10 0 6 14
Middle East Egypt 15 6 30 12 18
Middle East Lebanon 10 10 8 0 14
Middle East Jordan 15 8 12 0 21
TOTAL 140 138 170 102 237.5

7. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22
RMT-FAST in practice
Pilot with Spain
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases

8. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22
RMT-FAST in practice
Test/Validation
- We have piloted the tool with three EU countries (Spain, Austria and Bulgaria) and one non-EU country
(Libya)
Strengths
o User-friendly
o Easy to update
o Quick preliminary Risk Assessment
Limitations
o Data collection is difficult for some parameters
o Incomplete or non-timely information on diseases
status and mitigation measures
o Uncertainty around parameters estimated by expert
elicitation.
Feedback
https://www.fao.org/eufmd/global-situation/rmt-fast
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases

9. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22
RMT-FAST in practice
Applications of RMT-FAST
Risk Ranking
o To prioritize countries and pathways of introduction
o Indications for border controls
Risk monitoring
o To highlight change in risk in case of relevant epidemiological
updates/events
Preliminary Risk Assessment
o To identify at-risk situations that might need a more detailed risk
assessment
Reporting
o To use the tool to implement periodic reports/bulletins
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases

10. #OS22
- The tool seems agile and well-accepted
by users
- Quality of data is a problematic point for
some parameters
- RMT-FAST needs to be further developed
- surveillance limitations in PII countries
- illegal or informal connections
Conclusion
Roberto Condoleo
RMT-FAST: monitoring the likelihood entry of diseases
If you are interested, please contact us!
Melissa.mclaws@fao.org
Roberto.condoleo@izslt.it

11. Thank you !..
https://www.fao.org/eufmd/
Melissa.mclaws@fao.org
Roberto.condoleo@izslt.it