120 Veterinarians Benefit from Animal Disease Surveillance Training by L-PRES Bauchi

By Bashir Hassan Abubakar

To further boost livestock production for effective economic value chain and also enhance human health, World Bank Assisted Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project has organised Two Days training for veterinarians, para veterinarians and community animal health workers on effective disease surveillance using one-health approach.

The training, holding in Bauchi attracted five participants from the livestock departments of the 20 LGAs of the State.

Declaring the two days training open, Bauchi State Commissioner of Agriculture, Professor Simon Madugu Yalams said  capacity building training remains the key to update the professional knowledge of animal health specialists especially in a highly dynamic field of veterinary medicine.


According to professor Yalams, the field of animal health is a very dynamic field with new innovations in terms of equipment, drugs, vaccines as well as application of these new innovations in the clinics as well as during ambulatory services.

He said that, disease surveillance remains the backbone of preventing the occurrence, as well as the spread of any impending outbreak, hence the need for continuous training and retraining of field officers.

“As you are very much aware, it is
through disease surveillance that  professionals like you will be able to track any infection, the presence or otherwise of that infection and eventually advise government on appropriate measures to be taken especially against diseases of economic and zoonotic significance.

“You will  agree with me  that in the face of  emerging and  re-emerging diseases such as  Bovine, Tuberculosis , Bird flu, Lassa fever, to mention  but a few, sustained  and aggressive  surveillance  remains the key to  monitor  disease status  which will  give government  at all levels  the opportunity to plan
adequately in order to protect the entry and spread of such diseases”, said Yalams.

While congratulating the participants,  the Commissioner  urged them to keenly pay attention to the presentations , freely interact and ask questions so that by the time they return to their work stations , they can utilize the knowledge acquired by impacting positively in their day to day official engagements.

“It is my belief that the knowledge acquired will be stepped down to your colleagues that are not opportune to be here which we hope will be reflected in your daily work in terms of professionalism, efficiency and
service delivery to our teaming livestock farmers especially in the rural areas.

“In addition, I applaud the entire L-PRESS Project Coordinating office for this laudable initiative of training our field officers in the various important areas of their work. I wish to assure the staff of the ministry of our commitment towards the training of our staff so that they become more refined and better prepared in the area of public health, food security and safety as well as the economic emancipation of our people through modern way of animal production as well as improved value addition along the livestock value chain.


Earlier in his  welcome remark, Bauchi State Coordinator of L-PRESS Project Musa Adamu One said that the objective of the training was to provide participants with knowledge about the principles and significance of disease surveillance in safeguarding animal health and controlling the spread of infectious diseases.

Other objectives of the training according to Coordinator are:

  • To develop participants’ practical skills in carrying out surveillance activities, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.
  • ‌To strengthen participants’ understanding of early warning systems and response strategies for potential disease outbreaks in animal populations.
  • ‌To encourage collaboration and knowledge exchange among veterinarians, para- veterinarians, and community animal health workers in disease monitoring and control, and
  • ‌To familiarize participants with the patterns of Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADS) occurrences, such as epidemic, sporadic, pandemic, and endemic, within the State

Adamu One said that the scope  of the training will focus on Principles of disease surveillance, Outbreak investigation and response, Biosecurity and Disease Prevention, and Vaccination and efficient control measures.


The Coordinator then expressed his hope that  that participants will utilize the opportunity that will lead to achieving the purpose of this training.

In his goodwill message, the State Director of veterinary services Dr. Ibrahim Bello appreciated Governor Bala Mohammed for agreeing to key into the L-PRES Project.


He stressed that disease surveillance is the key to whatever it is done in the animal, human and environmental health sector.

He pledged the support of his department to the success of the L-PRES Project

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.