Dubai: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) held a workshop with the theme “Modeling the Spread of Animal and Common Diseases” at its headquarters, as part of its efforts to strengthen the biosecurity system.
Other activities included preventing diseases that are common to humans and animals, improving veterinary health, encouraging public health among consumers of animal products, and safeguarding livestock from disease outbreaks.
Dr. Mohammed Alyafei, dean of UAE University’s College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Ibrahim Al Dhanhani, director of the MOCCAE’s Environmental Disaster Department, and representatives from the ministry’s several sectors attended the two-day training.
Professor Aaron Reeves, Senior Research Epidemiologist and expert in digital modeling and simulation of possible disease, epidemic, and environmental crisis scenarios, led the session. Reeves is a specialist in employing cutting-edge applied research to provide answers. He works at the research institution RTI International in North Carolina, USA, and was a member of the team that handled the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK.
Along with Prof. Magdy Mahmoud from the MOCCAE and Dr. Yassir El Tahir from the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Dr. Ehab Fath Al Rahman and Prof. Youssef El Khatib from UAE University also presented the workshop.
Ibrahim Al Dhanhani said that, “At the Ministry, we are keen to update our human resources on the latest experiences and scientific practices to strengthen national biosecurity at all levels. The workshop on ‘Modelling the Spread of Animal and Common Diseases’ reflects this approach, through which we aim to increase our animal wealth and care in accordance with the best international standards. The workshop also aims to improve knowledge about the concept of modelling and strengthen preparedness and prediction of potential and unexpected epidemics and environmental disasters.”
In order to simulate the process of animal disease transmission (also known as zoonotic illnesses) between animals and people while accounting for human contact, the workshop included both digital modeling and practical instruction. Stochastic modeling, algorithms, possible scenarios, and future exploration were also presented in the workshop to help policy and decision makers prepare for low-probability but high-impact disasters.