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Avian influenza training for early responders
In the event of an outbreak of Avian Influenza H5N1, a lack of training among early responders will lead to delayed detection and ineffective reactions. The FAZD Center’s Avian Influenza School trains the trainers and provides training modules for use by extension agents, veterinarians, researchers and farmers – for prevention, intervention and recovery from outbreaks. Sessions have been held in Texas, California and Minnesota, and in Africa, and are in demand in the developing world.
The H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) currently represents an international animal health emergency. The virus is carried and spread by wild and domestic birds, and is devastating to poultry flocks of large producers and at the village level. The loss of poultry negatively impacts the livelihoods of poor rural communities that rely on them for meat and eggs. The HPAI is currently afflicting parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East and will likely continue to spread across these regions and globally.
Response to the current HPAI global animal health emergency requires the training of veterinarians, public health workers, laboratory scientists, livestock producers, wildlife and zoo managers, and government officials in emergency management and communications, virus surveillance, sample collection and reporting, biosecurity, virus detection, and response. Internationally, the numbers of HPAI instructors is inadequate to train at the stakeholder groups to prepare for and respond to HPAI outbreaks.
The Avian Flu School (AFS), a Global Livestock CRSP project developed by the Wildlife Health Center and Cooperative Extension of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is an international train-the-trainer program. The National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defence (FAZD) co-sponsored the AFS curriculum development.