Manual on procedures for disease eradication by stamping out FAO Animal Health manual Series, Vol. 12

When a transboundary animal disease invades a country or an area that is normally free, it is important to take all measures to eliminate infection rapidly before it establishes itself and evolves into a major epidemic and/or becomes endemic. Stamping out is often the most cost-effective way of doing this. Stamping out is a set of coordinated measures for the sequestration of an outbreak and rapid elimination of infection involving the slaughter and disposal of all infected and in-contact animals. For diseases such as African swine fever, for which there is no effective vaccine, quarantine and stamping out are the only viable options for effective control. While stamping out is an established procedure in the eradication of disease incursions in developed countries, it is poorly understood in many developing countries, which are consequently ill prepared for the strategy. The purpose of this manual is to provide guidelines on when and how to employ the stamping out policy for disease eradication. The policy should be used together with and in reference to the FAO "Manual on the preparation of national animal disease emergency plans" and the FAO manuals on the preparation of contingency plans for specific diseases such as rinderpest and African swine fever.