FAO to train 60 veterinarians to tackle zoonotic diseases

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will train 60 veterinarians through its ongoing In-Service Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) to detect and control animal diseases, including zoonotic diseases that can affect humans.

The FAO National Coordinator, Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases, Dr Ayodele Majekodunmi, said this on Wednesday at the presentation of 2022 Global Health Security Agenda work plan for Nigeria in Abuja.

Majekodunmi said the training would contribute significantly in improving disease surveillance and expanding the reach to more states and the private sector.

She said this was in addition to the 30 cohorts of frontline veterinarians trained and deployed by the ECTAD across 26 states in 2021.

Majekodunmi said that the training was designed to enhance their skills and competencies to manage emerging health emergencies in animals.

She said this would be through animal surveillance, field investigation and reporting which would enable the organisation plan and take action in response to animal health emergencies.

“This year, we are planning to train another 60 veterinarians on the same training to cover the whole country and to also involve veterinarians from the private sectors like the Police, Army and so on.

”The significance is that animal diseases are happening out there and it’s only disease cases that we know about that we can respond to, treat and prevent.

”So, having that information coming from the veterinarians in the field about what is happening and when, is very important.

The Director, Veterinary Control Service, Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, Dr Memunah Habib, said several states had been affected including some African countries with the most recent outbreak in Zamfara.

Habib said the Federal Government was trying to control the outbreak given the fact that only biosecurity could be used to control the disease.

She lamented that most of the farmers were not doing the right thing and were often advised to insure their birds.

Habib said government could not compensate farmers with more than 3,000 birds adding that government only compensated farmers who had their biosecurity in place as well as register with an insurance company.

” Federal Government can only form policies, states and local government must follow up with the farmers to ensure they are doing the right thing and ensure that good veterinary services are employed to manage their birds,” she said.

Habib said one of the major challenges was that farmers did not report outbreaks on their farms.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)