Understanding and fighting Screwworm myiasis in West Africa

Dakar, Senegal – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has organized the 21 January 2025, a webinar on screwworm flies’ infestations and related myiasis prevention and control. This webinar titled “Understanding and Fighting Screwworm Myiasis in West Africa” was organized by the FAO Virtual Learning Center (VLC) for West Africa aiming to enhance awareness and understanding of screwworms infestations in West Africa among public and private veterinary professionals in West Africa. This webinar, hosted simultaneously in French, Portuguese and English, brought together veterinarians, entomologists, researchers, field agents from the subregion. It includes a series of presentations and a panel discussion animated by regional and international experts from FAO Emergency Center for the Control of Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), FAO Emergency Management Center (EMC), Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l’Elevage en zone Subhumide (CIRDES), Laboratoire National de l’Elevage et de Recherches Vétérinaires (LNERV) and Veterinary Services of Senegal. It gave the opportunity to increase awareness on the ongoing events, enhance understanding of screwworms and share experiences for effective management of screwworms. To extend knowledge beyond the webinar, an interactive discussion forum was opened for participants on the VLC platform, where a dedicated page to the webinar was also developed giving the opportunity for more interaction and engagement with experts, peers and access to webinar recording and additional resources on screwworms. Through this event, the FAO Virtual Learning Center (VLC) demonstrated the role it can play in emergency management through knowledge and information sharing on screwworm myiasis, an emerging concern in West Africa.

Confronting screwworms flies’ threat in West Africa

From July to December 2023, thousands of cases of myiasis were reported in Senegal’s Kaolack and Fatick regions, spreading later to The Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau.  Early detection, timely identification of cases and awareness are critical in combating the screwworms infestations. Flies causing both new and old screwworms infestations can lay eggs in wounds and causes myiasis that can kill or incapacitates the hosts if not treated. As they can affect both warm-blooded animals and humans, these flies pose a threat to both animal production and public health. By helping to reach a larger audience, the online modality and digital platform offered by Virtual Learning Centers can amplify efforts to increase awareness and accelerate knowledge sharing.

“Since the first alerts in Senegal, FAO has deployed all its tools to support countries and limit the impact of this threat on animal and public health. This online event though our VLC is part of our regional technical cooperation programme TCP/SFW/4001, aimed at strengthening preparedness and response capacities to Cochliomyia hominivorax and Chrysomya bezziana infestations in Senegal and West Africa”, commented Dr Lionel Gbaguidi, Animal health and Production Officer at the FAO Subregional office for West Africa.

FAO Virtual Training Centers:  A valuable tool in emergency management in West Africa

The FAO Virtual Learning Centers (VLCs) are virtual platforms established and designed to build One Health capacity in all FAO regions. By offering inclusive, high-quality training through a variety of methodologies, the VLCs empower regions through development and delivery of tailored courses and online events that address local priorities and contexts. Since its establishment in September 2024 within the Animal Health and Animal Production Unit of the FAO Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, the FAO Virtual Learning Center for West Africa continued to grow and provide training in different languages to prepare countries to better respond to animal health emergencies, reaching up to three thousand people who enrolled in the VLC platform to build their capacity.

This initiative highlights the power of digital learning in emergency preparedness and showcases on how virtual learning can contribute in emergency management within regions, making it possible to reach a larger audience from disparate geographical areas at the same time with greater cost-effectiveness and improving public awareness in emergency situations.