Topic: 2024-Spread of Animal Viruses
Country: Ireland
Delegate Name: Jackson Harlan
Country: Ireland
Committee: WHO (ECOSOC)
Topic: The Spread of Animal Viruses
Delegate: Jackson Harlan
School: Williamston High School
Humans and animals have always shared the earth and the spread of animal viruses directly impacts both. For example livestock is one of the most influential worklines, profiting around 1.16 to 3.1 trillion dollars worldwide. The spread of animal viruses impacts not just animals themselves, but also the lives of farmers, producers, and consumers. The lives of these people can be severely impacted, they can be at risk of bacterial infection, as well as loss of income for farmers and producers. It is estimated that 75% of upcoming human illnesses have an origin from animals. It is important to note that livestock or poultry and domestic animals have closest contact with humans. Past proposals on the issue have been increasing collaboration between other nations for emergency response to the initial effects of the spread of the animal viruses. Increasing collaboration for research of animal viruses has also been proposed in the past. Alternate suggestions include inspecting the livestock during production to ensure there are no animal viruses present.
Ireland is one of the world’s largest producers in livestock, and the spread of animal viruses greatly impacts the industry. In past years Bluetongue has spread into surrounding countries and the spread into Ireland would greatly impact the livestock industry in Ireland. Currently Ireland is continuing to monitor the importation of livestock in order to protect the fragile industry. The program Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Eradication Program has made many efforts to ensure the stoppage of animal viruses. These efforts include tissue tag testing, including doing so from birth, and separating the calves who have been infected. These actions have led to record low numbers of BVD present in livestock in Ireland, which ensures the success of farmers, producers and safety for consumers. Financial support has also been presented to farmers participating in the program to ensure stable income. Another action has been the introduction of vaccines for BVD, which is still ongoing. Ireland wants to continue these courses of action as well as collaborating with other nations to make progress going forward.
Ireland believes in pushing for collaboration with other nations to fully combat the issue. Ireland would like to continue pushing forward with current programs as well as introducing similar programs to other nations. It is important to recognize the constant need for research on the topic, as new animal viruses can present themselves. Creating research facilities for collaboration on the topic would be a good course of action. In the past Ireland has conducted research on the knowledge of farmers’ knowledge of animal viruses, and found many farmers were not aware of the dangers or spread of animal viruses. With this information Ireland proposes to create an educational program involving the spread of animal viruses and presenting the information to farmers. Ireland wants to continue to fight the spread of animal viruses and support the people impacted
