23rd June, GowuLeonardo Amberbrook otherwise known as Leo was used to getting called in for veterinary consultations, in fact it was mostly what he did in the vet world these days. He ran probably the best known and most highly regarded vets practice in Achkaerin, however despite all his familiarity with getting called in for consultations, even out in the fields of Gowu like today, hadn't prepared him for anything like this a dead antelope right in the middle of the wilderness, normally he wouldn't have had much to go on except that it looked remarkably like Bluetongue in fact he would have certified that as the cause of death had he not a matter of hours earlier been reading through everything on Yellowtongue.
"Damn it." Leo said as he examined the dead antelope, the signs were there "Cause of death appears to be Yellowtongue. Is this exactly where you found it?"
"Yes sir." the local farmer said
"Ok I'll make the arrangements to dispose of the body." Leo said, he looked over the grassy plain landscape toward the south, this was not good by any stretch of the imagination.
23rd June, Marble Palace, ValtheimPeter had sat in many meetings of the Round Table Conference, the Achkaerinese crisis management body, but this was the first time that something like this had been the subject of discussion, they had Leo on a video channel.
"In short Your Majesty, we've got a confirmed case of Yellowtongue outside of the herd bubble." Leo said "Which is worrying because if this virus is in the wild animal population then the ability of this thing to spread is a lot greater and it becomes a lot harder to contain. If I could hand over to Tammy to explain?"
"Of course." Peter said "Doctor Axon?"
"Thank you."
Doctor Tammy Axon, the governments science advisor, said bringing up a general map of the Ardian peninsula "Between the Allied States of Ardia and Rokkenjima there are the nations of Nueva Ardia, Toshikawa and Phuebra as well as Gowu. The problem is that a significant proportion of that entire area is wide open spaces and we know that there are a lot of animal migratory patterns through there. So it becomes possible for a herd to carry the virus across distance and of course interaction with other animals means this thing can spread quite rapidly."
"And then there's the food chain issue." Leo said "I haven't come across a case of this yet it's theoretically possible that if a predator took an infected animal and ate it, then the predator could become infected."
"We have another issue as well."
Lizbeth Stewart, the home affairs minister, said "We know the first reported case was in the Allied States of Ardia, what we don't know is where ground zero is."
"The incubation period is long enough that it could be outside the Allied States." Tammy said
"Where are we on testing?"
Michael Williams asked, as soon as news of this had been announced by the Allied States of Ardia the Achkaerinese Government had started working on aspects of it.
"We've got a plan." Tammy said "We can test using tranq darts, marking the animals and then when we get the results appropriate action can be taken. Any animals that test positive we can quarantine. Any that die we need to burn the carcasses of."
"That's all fine in a domestic sense but not to put too fine a point on it but the Ardian peninsula is a wide open space with migratory species so unless you're suggesting we actually capture each herd of wild animals which is mission impossible by the way..." Leo said
"Leo how would you do it in the wild?" Peter asked
"Well we'd have to tranq the animals, examine them and make a judgement call based on whether their showing the symptoms of Yellowtongue." Leo said "It would be far from perfect but with migrating herds we'd have to fly by the seat of our pants a bit, if I can get some help I can set something up."
"Chief Councillor?" Peter asked looking at the other screen where the Chief Councillor of Gowu
Xialoing Tsu had been listening
"Well domestically to Gowu I can implement the measures Doctor Axon outlined, on the wild animal element that's got to be a judgement call but I'll talk with Governor Saunders in Phuebra and of course Sora and the Rokkenjiman and Nueva Ardian Governments because if we've got to worry about wild herds then that's going to need a joint effort." Xiaoling said
"Other measures?" Peter asked looking around the table
"We should consider restrictions on the importing of food."
Viola Summers, the Minister of Trade, said "We as in the northern mainland don't import meat from the Ardian Peninsula area but Gowu does import meat from Toshikawa I believe."
"Correct." Xiaoling said
"We should also start looking at vaccine development." Tammy said "I'd like to take advantage of Huaxia's offer of samples and get started."
"Agreed." Peter said "Viola what restrictions did you have in mind?"
"Any meat import from an affected country needs to be stopped." Viola said "We're lucky in that we produce a lot of meat ourselves so we don't import that much of it, but farmers may import livestock, which is why testing will be important. But we do need to restrict livestock importing as well."
Actions in Relation to Yellowtongue
The Achkaerinese Government recognizes the current situation surrounding the Yellowtongue virus and it's rampant spread to several nations, in response to the current situation the Achkaerinese Government is implementing the following steps:
1) The importing of livestock is banned as of midnight on the 24th June 2020, this ban will be reviewed and potentially extended if necessary on 1st August 2020.
2) All domestic animals that fall within the identified at risk categories (Sheep, Cattle, Yaks, Goats, Buffalo, Deer and its sub-species, Dromedaries, and Antelopes and its subspecies) will be subject to testing by Vets. Any animals that test positive are to be isolated and quarantined for a period of 30 days. Should an infected animal die the carcass will be burned.
3) Development of a vaccine and treatment programs will be undertaken and the Achkaerinese Government would welcome the assistance of Huaxia authorities in providing samples for that purpose, we would also welcome collaboration from other nations in this effort.
4) In relation to Gowu the approach that has been agreed upon, following consultation with the Gowu authorities, sees mirroring of the content of points 1 & 2 in this press release. In addition because of the wild animal herd factor seen in the Ardian Peninsula area there will also be an adapted testing methodology put in place. We appreciate that the Ardian Peninsula is not the only space on Mundus like this and if other nations would like further information on specific steps in relation to this point then we advise they contact the Gowu Authorities.
Hannah Cartwright
Royal Press Secretary