FAO Strengthens Veterinary Capacity to Address Emerging Infectious Animal Diseases 

In line with recent efforts to ensure early detection and control of emerging animal diseases, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through the Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) programme, is empowering veterinarians with capacity and skills for detecting and controlling emerging and transboundary animal diseases in the country.

The capacity building Training for field-based animal health professionals is aimed at preventing, controlling and ensuring early response to the spread of zoonotic diseases in Nigeria through the In-service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) programme.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases in humans originate from animals. “It is therefore essential that veterinarians fighting zoonotic diseases have the necessary skills to detect and respond rapidly,” said FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) Team Leader in Nigeria, Guy Kouame, during a recent ISAVET training in Lagos.

He noted that to address the skills gap in member countries, FAO through the ECTAD programme has partnered with the Institute of Animal Infectious Diseases (IIAD) at Texas A and M University to launch the ISAVET training since 2018.

Training

In his remarks at the training in Lagos, the Chief Veterinary Officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Olaniran Alabi, stressed the importance of this activity by underlining the need for training animal health personnel in the country with modern skills and knowledge for animal diseases control.

“This programme comes at the right time to fill the gap in the training of animal health personnel in field epidemiology.

“We believe it will effectively contribute to raising the level of surveillance and fight against animal diseases and zoonoses,” he said.

The training, targeting 14 countries in Central, East and West Africa, has been rolled out under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Lessons learned from ISAVET roll-out in other countries highlighted the need to train a core group of trainers and mentors to support sustainable implementation of ISAVET at the national level.

Nigeria has just joined the ISAVET roll-out this year and this is implemented in collaboration with the Department of Veterinary and Pest Control Services (FDVPCS), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Participants were trained in surveillance, outbreak investigation, emergency preparedness, professional ethics and communication and will also undergo in-service practicals and mentorship.

ISAVET, a case for sustainability 

With FAO’s support, each participant is exposed to roles and responsibilities related to the preparation, implementation and post-training phases of an ISAVET course at national level. An important outcome of these two training workshops is the establishment of an in-service training model which meets national needs and demand, the adaptation of the ISAVET curriculum for broad application across Nigeria and improved disease surveillance, reporting and outbreak investigations.

ISAVET training for veterinary field officers is an example of sustainability for the future of the country, as it aims to improve Nigeria’s Veterinary Services’ capacity to plan for, prepare for, respond to, and overcome critical threats to human and animal health at the interface between human, animal and environmental health.

About ECTAD Programme 

ECTAD is a programme led by FAO for the planning and delivery of veterinary assistance to member states in responding to the threat of transboundary animal health crises and it is funded by USAID.

Through the programme, FAO supports the Federal Government of Nigeria in strengthening the capacities of national and local partners in dealing with various animal disease emergencies through prevention, detection and response to zoonotic and non-zoonotic disease outbreaks at source. By helping to avoid national, regional and global spread, ECTAD is critical in protecting people and animals from disease threats.

The ISAVET training of trainers’ and mentors’ workshop was held from 5 to 16 July in Lagos as part of efforts to kick-start implementation of the ISAVET programme in the country. The main training program is expected to commence in August with a cohort of trainees from across the country.

Emmanuel Ukoh