Epidemiologists have played a key role in managing the Covid-19 pandemic. You may wonder what epidemiology is, and how epidemiological skills and concepts are different from clinical skills and concepts.

Over the course of the pandemic, scientists started to understand the epidemiology of this virus and the disease it causes. We now know a lot more about how it spreads, the symptoms of the disease and the demographics of the people who are at greater risk from the disease: key information for decisions on prevention, treatment and policy.

This module enables you to understand the roles of epidemiologists in disease prevention and control. You will learn that epidemiologists are concerned about preventing and controlling diseases in populations rather than treating diseases in individual animals.

Team Leader: Naomi Cogger
Team Member(s): Sabrina Greening
In-country partner(s): Martha Simanjuntak
Reviewer: Navneet Dhand

To decide which diseases and production issues should be prioritised for control and prevention, it is important to measure the size of the problem being caused.

Two common ways to measure the problem are prevalence, which focuses on existing cases at a point in time and incidence, focusing on new cases occurring over a specified time. 

Information about the size and frequency of disease in a population helps us understand the disease and the extent of its impacts on the population. This module explores these concepts in more detail.

We will also discuss the measures of disease frequency, including when to decide on measuring the prevalence and incidence of risk, how to calculate and interpret the prevalence and incidence of risk, and the mortality measures.

Team Leader: Jenny-Ann Toribio
Team Member(s): Isabel MacPhillamy, Anke Wiethoelter
In-country partner(s): Carolyn Benigno
Reviewer: Cord Heuer

In the previous module, Measures of Disease Frequency, you learnt about how to describe the extent of a disease or production problem by measuring prevalence and incidence risk. This module will discuss the measures of epidemiological association, including information about potential risk factors and disease outcomes, calculating the odds ratio and risk ratio, interpreting an odds ratio and risk ratio, and deciding on appropriate measures.

After identifying that a disease or production issue is a problem, you want to identify the factors that are contributing to the occurrence of this problem. You can then identify actions that can help prevent or reduce it. You will learn how to identify factors linked to a disease or production problem using measures of epidemiological association.

Team leader: Jenny-Ann Toribio
Team member(s): Isabel MacPhillamy; Anke Wiethoelter
Country representative: Carolyn Benigno
Reviewer: Cord Heuer

It is rare for disease to occur entirely at random. Two important skills when investigating the epidemiology of disease are identifying patterns of disease in time (how diseases occur or spread over periods of time) and patterns of disease in space (how diseases occur or spread between different locations). This module is about how to recognise these patterns. It introduces you to creating and interpreting basic epidemic curves and disease maps. You will create your own epidemic curves and maps to describe disease outbreaks.

We first focus on how to identify patterns of disease in time, using data to generate and interpret an epidemic curve. We then focus on how to identify patterns of disease in space, by generating and interpreting basic disease maps.

Team Leader: Caitlin Pfeiffer
Team Member(s): Mark Stevenson Harish Tiwari
In-country partner(s): Imas Yuyun
Reviewer: Naomi Cogger

A diagnostic test is any process or device that can be used to detect disease in an individual. This module is about the evaluation of diagnostic tests and their application in veterinary epidemiological contexts. In both clinical and epidemiological settings, it is important that we accurately interpret the results of diagnostic tests when attempting to determine the disease status of individual animals and groups of animals. This allows us to select appropriate disease control and intervention options, provide an accurate prognosis and make correct inferences about disease epidemiology.

In this module, we will consider how to evaluate diagnostic tests in terms of their fitness for purpose. We will develop your knowledge on the interpretation of diagnostic test results in veterinary epidemiological contexts.

Team Leader: Simon Firestone
Team Member(s): Victoria Brookes
In-country partner(s): Khrisdiana Putri
Reviewer: Joerg Henning

Designing a questionnaire is a key skill for a field epidemiologist. We require questionnaires to be able to collect data for outbreak investigations, surveys and observational studies. A well-designed questionnaire will allow you to collect better-quality data and thus enable you to make valid inferences.

In this module, you will learn how to design a questionnaire. These skills will be used in several other modules in the APCOVE training program. This module will mainly focus on designing a questionnaire to collect information about risk factors, but the skills that you will learn by completing this module are equally useful for designing questionnaires for other purposes. You may, for example, use a questionnaire for conducting an outbreak investigation, surveillance or socio-epidemiological studies.

Team Leader: Navneet Dhand
Team Member(s): Naomi Cogger, Harish Tiwari
In-country partner(s): Abrao Pereira
Reviewer: Marika Wenemark

This module is about how to prepare for an outbreak investigation. It is the first module of the ‘Outbreak Investigation and Response’ competency and provides an introductory overview. It will enable you to understand the importance of preparedness for effective outbreak investigations.

First, we examine the purpose of outbreak investigations and why a structured approach is important. We then discuss how to establish the investigation in terms of the team roles, skillsets and resources including investigation templates and tools. There is a brief overview of personal protective equipment and its appropriate use to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in outbreak investigations. Activities throughout this module will support and encourage your personal preparation for outbreak investigations based on your own setting and needs.

Team Leader: Anke Wiethoelter
Team Member(s): Joerg Henning
In-country partner(s): Martha Simanjuntak
Reviewer: Evan Sergeant

Now that you know how to prepare for an outbreak investigation, this module focuses on how to conduct an outbreak investigation. It provides an overview of the steps in conducting an outbreak investigation. It will enable you to understand the structured approach to an outbreak investigation and how you can apply the approach in the field.

We introduce a 10-step process that can provide a framework for any outbreak investigation. This ensures that good quality information is gathered, sound hypotheses are developed and appropriate control measures are implemented. We will explain each step of the process and give important information about how to apply these steps in real-world outbreak investigations. We explain why the 10-step process should be used.

Team Leader: Caitlin Pfeiffer
Team Member(s): Joerg Henning
In-country partner(s): Martha Simanjuntak
Reviewer: Mark Stevenson

Whether or not an individual animal or a group of animals develops disease is a risk-based process. Certain characteristics increase or decrease the likelihood (i.e. chance) of a disease occurring. If we can identify the characteristics of animals that increase the probability of disease, we can then reduce the probability of a disease occurring by reducing or eliminating these characteristics or exposure to these characteristics.

In the same way, if characteristics are shown to decrease the probability of disease, then promoting the characteristics or exposure to these characteristics will reduce the chance that an individual will develop the disease. In this module we provide you with tools and techniques to identify characteristics associated with the presence of disease. These characteristics are called disease risk factors.

Team Leader: Mark Stevenson
Team Member(s): Simon Firestone
In-country partner(s): Kyaw Naing Oo
Reviewer: Naomi Cogger

In this module you will use the knowledge and skills that you obtained in the Conducting an Outbreak Investigation module and other related modules. You will apply these skills to an avian influenza (AI) outbreak scenario in Vietnam.

You will learn how to develop a case definition and identify the steps you would take to investigate a suspected AI outbreak. You will use outbreak data to create and interpret an epidemic curve, and review AI positive locations on a map. The module will demonstrate how you can use spatial information to make inferences about what is possibly driving the disease occurrence. This information will also help you to decide on control strategies.

Team Leader: Joerg Henning
Team Member(s): Simon Firestone
In-country partner(s): Pawin Padungtod
Reviewer: Mark Stevenson

In this module, you will use the knowledge and skills that you obtained previously, to investigate a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak scenario in Myanmar.

You will learn how to develop a case definition and identify steps to investigate a suspected outbreak of FMD. You will learn about the investigations you will use to describe the extent of an FMD outbreak.

You will create and interpret an epidemic curve, and describe the approach that you would use to quantify the association between hypothesised risk factors and occurrence of FMD. You will also review FMD positive locations on a map and work out the possible drivers of disease. You will then decide on strategies to control an outbreak of FMD.

Team Leader: Joerg Henning
Team Member(s): Art Subharat
In-country partner(s): Khin Ohnmar Lwin
Reviewer: Victoria Brookes

Aquaculture is an extremely important animal production sector. It supports the livelihoods of many people, particularly in Asia where seafood is a source of income and nutrition.

In this module, you will consider how the standard approach to an outbreak investigation can improve the health of farmed aquatic animals. You will work through a case study at a small-scale sea-cage grouper farm in Indonesia. The farm has a problem with recurrent outbreaks of death amongst newly introduced fish. By undertaking an outbreak investigation, you will be able to identify the primary disease problem and make recommendations for improved health and production at fish farms in the area.

Team Leader: Paul Hick
Team Member(s): Joy Becker
In-country partner(s): Widagdo Sri Nugroho
Reviewer: Evan Sergeant

This module will enable you to apply the concepts of outbreak investigation to a hypothetical disease outbreak. It will familiarise you with the steps of an outbreak investigation and will give you decision-making practice. This case focuses on an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in Vietnam, highlighting actions that are required to prevent the spread of this highly transmissible disease.

African swine fever is a viral disease, caused by a large DNA virus that belongs to the Asfivirus genus. Nonspecific clinical signs at the beginning of an outbreak, or sudden death without any other signs, can delay diagnosis in the field, allowing for rapid spread of disease. Early detection, reporting and confirmation of ASF virus are important in mitigating the impact of the disease.

Team Leader: Andres Perez
Team Member(s): Mary Katherine O’Brien, Daniella Schettino, Rachel Schambow
In-country partner(s): Abrao Pereira
Reviewer: Evan Sergeant

Some level of animal health surveillance exists in every country to document disease(s), and to control and prevent them. However, surveillance needs differ depending on the disease agents of concern, the populations of animals at risk and local environmental conditions. Surveillance capabilities also differ across countries.

In this module, you will learn why we conduct animal disease surveillance and how to select surveillance activities that fit the purpose. We will define surveillance and list the reasons why we do surveillance. A range of surveillance activities exist, but none are useful for all surveillance purposes (demonstrating freedom from disease or the level of a disease). We will review some of the tools available to efficiently provide the information you will need for a given surveillance purpose.

Team Leader: Charles Caraguel
Team Member(s): Jenny-Ann Toribio
In-country partner(s): Soe Soe Wai
Reviewer: Sam Hamilton

Veterinarians and animal health professionals undertake surveys to:

• find out the frequency of something (e.g. infection, disease or a risk factor for disease) in a population (i.e. prevalence)
• determine whether something is present or not in the population (i.e. detection).

In this module, you will learn how to design surveys to estimate the prevalence of disease in a population. First, we will consider the common mistakes veterinarians make when selecting animals from a defined population. Then we look at different types of survey designs that can avoid these mistakes. We will show you how to obtain a representative sample from a population that will produce accurate results. 

Team Leader: Bruce Gummow
Team Member(s): Charles Caraguel
In-country partner(s): Andy Yombo
Reviewer: Sam Hamilton

A survey is one of the main tools that we use to conduct surveillance. We can conduct the survey to either (1) measure the prevalence of a disease in a target population or (2) demonstrate that disease is absent. The design and data analysis of a survey for each of these two distinct purposes can be very different. In this module you will learn how to design and report a survey to demonstrate freedom from disease in a population.

This module will teach you why and how we conduct surveys to demonstrate freedom from disease in an animal population. After prioritising and implementing the important design features of such a survey, you will learn how to analyse the results and correctly interpret the findings of the survey. 

Team Leader: Charles Caraguel
Team Member(s): Bruce Gummow
In-country partner(s): Carolyn Benigno
Reviewer: Evan Sargeant

Participatory disease investigation involves partnership with communities to improve understanding of animal diseases and how to control them. It is particularly suited to situations where there is little existing information about disease prevalence, and where it is logistically difficult to conduct a structured survey.

To obtain accurate information and to enable farmers to control animal disease, we need to engage with farmers and their communities, and to consider their local knowledge about animal diseases. This module looks at the ways we can partner with farmers to learn about animal disease in their localities.

In this module, we will introduce the concept of the participatory approach. We discuss in detail the application of this approach and some participatory tools in the investigation and surveillance of animal disease.

Team Leader: Jenny-Ann Toribio
Team Member(s): Harish Tiwari, Shumaila Arif
In-country partner(s): Kyaw Naing Oo
Reviewer: Marta Hernandez-Jover

This module is about preparing data for descriptive and inferential analyses using Microsoft Excel®. You will learn basic skills in Microsoft Excel® for calculations, data cleaning and management, and develop a structured approach to data analysis. This module is a prerequisite for several modules in this training program.

In the previous modules of this competency, you have learnt how to design and implement surveillance activities. Surveillance activities will collect data that describes the occurrence of disease in the population of interest. However, collecting and recording the data is not the end of the surveillance task! Analysis can convert surveillance data into information about diseases that can be used for decision-making. This module will outline key skills you can use to prepare surveillance data for analysis.

Team Leader: Alexandra Green
Team Member(s): Caitlin Pfeiffer
In-country partner(s): Imas Yuyun
Reviewer: Navneet Dhand

Module C05 demonstrated how to prepare data for analysis. This module teaches you the next step: descriptively summarising and visualising data. Summarising and visualising data is important before conducting formal statistical analyses; it enables you to better understand the key features of each variable and how the variables might be associated with each other. Descriptive analysis is often undertaken at the same time as data cleaning because it can help identify typos, and incorrect and implausible values.

Once you have a better understanding of the associations between variables, they can then be tested using formal statistical methods such as a Chi-Square Test. Descriptive analysis is an important step and skipping this process can lead to serious errors.

Team Leader: Caitlin Pfeiffer
Team Member(s): Alexandra Green
In-country partner(s): Mark Stevenson
Reviewer: Navneet Dhand

This module aims to further develop your skills in analysing data. It will enable you to objectively evaluate the association between two categorical variables. You will do this by conducting a chi-square test, a formal test of a hypothesis, which is commonly used in field epidemiology.

Descriptive analysis provides valuable information about the association between variables in your dataset. However, these associations could be due to sampling variations. To determine whether the associations are credible, we need to conduct further inferential analyses, or statistical tests of hypotheses, that allow us to make inferences about the population based on sample data.

Team Leader: Navneet Dhand
Team Member(s): Alexandra Green
In-country partner(s): Widagdo Sri Nugroho
Reviewer: Mark Stevenson

In today’s world, high-impact animal diseases pose significant threats to animal and human health, production, food security, and people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. Risk analysis is a tool that can calculate the probability and consequences of these diseases occurring. This allows for tailored prevention and control strategies at both farm and national levels, and for identifying logical targets for risk management at all levels.

In this module, we will review the foundational concepts of risk analysis, and will then expand on these in subsequent modules of this competency. We demonstrate the value of understanding risk and the implications of risk, and help build your awareness and skills. You will learn basic concepts and steps of risk analysis to support evidence-based decision-making in the field.

Team Leader: Andres Perez
Team Member(s): Mary Katherine O’Brien, Maria Sol Perez Aguirreburualde, Rachel Schambow
In-country partner(s): Carolyn Benigno
Reviewer: Naomi Cogger

The risk analysis process is intended to define the hazard, estimate the likelihoods of occurrence, and estimate the impact of alternative measures to prevent or mitigate that risk. Epidemiologists use risk assessment to determine whether the risk association with a hazard is acceptable or requires steps to reduce the risk. Words or numbers can be used to describe the risks. When we use words, the assessment is described as qualitative and when numbers are used the assessment is said to be quantitative.

Qualitative risk assessments are an important starting point for any assessment; they help us to decide if there is a need and sufficient data to complete a quantitative assessment. In this module, we will describe qualitative risk assessment in more detail.

Team Leader: Andres Perez
Team Member(s): Mary K O’Brien, Rachel Schambow
In-country partner(s): Pawin Padungtod
Reviewer: Naomi Cogger

To protect human and animal health, prevent production losses and improve production, veterinarians need to communicate about risks with those at greatest risk. There may also be a need to communicate with groups that could prevent or reduce risks.

Risk communication is a critical component of any risk analysis. It can take many different forms. For example, to prevent African swine fever, posters at airports warn people not to bring in pork products. This module covers how ordinary people think about risk, and how the perception of risk impacts risk communication styles. Talking to people about risk is different to conducting a risk assessment. We need to focus on their feelings about, or perceptions of risk. We also discuss how to communicate during an outbreak.

Team Leader: Naomi Cogger
Team Member(s): Andres Perez
In-country partner(s): Pawin Padungtod
Reviewer: Evan Sergeant

Animal diseases result in several kinds of financial and economic impacts. They cause livestock production losses and can also result in considerable disruption to trade. Measuring the financial or economic impact of a disease, whether it is endemic or an outbreak of a transboundary animal disease, helps us to understand how different groups within society are affected.

Economic impact assessments form the baseline for cost-benefit analyses supporting recommendations for animal disease control programs, and provide incentives to farmers for participation in government, or international disease control programs. This module introduces you to basic economic concepts and principles and outlines economic approaches that are relevant for veterinary services supporting livestock farmers, as well as for developing government animal health policies.

Team Leader: Mieghan Bruce
Team Member(s): Tu Tu Zaw Win
In-country partner(s): Acacio Cardoso Amaral
Reviewer: Navneed Dhand

A veterinary approach to animal disease focuses on preventing and controlling disease in the affected population. This is complemented by an assessment of how livestock owners and society are affected by the impacts of diseases and the measures taken to mitigate them.

Using economic principles and tools, veterinary services can support stakeholders in assessing whether a particular control or prevention investment is likely to result in an overall benefit. They also assess what the investment might be. We need to investigate the potential value that investing in a disease control program will have for farmers, the livestock sector and society. In this module, you will use two techniques to investigate the financial or economic value of controlling disease, by using brucellosis as an example.

Team Leader: Mieghan Bruce
Team Member(s): Tu Tu Zaw Win
In-country partner(s): Acacio Cardoso Amaral
Reviewer: Navneet Dhand

One Health is a transdisciplinary approach combining human, animal and environmental perspectives to a health problem. This module introduces the concepts, actors and terminology of One Health, focusing on collaboration and interaction between sectors, by using case studies.

This module uses real-life examples to show you how an efficient collaboration between health sectors can benefit projects and investigations at the human-animal-environment interfaces. It also demonstrates that the One Health approach goes beyond zoonoses and can contribute to many outcomes: health, social, economic or environmental. Finally, it guides you through the identification of relevant partners for an efficient One Health approach, and the roles and limitations that are involved.

Team Leader: Emilie Vallee
Team Member(s): Bruce Gummow
In-country partner(s): Tu Tu Zaw Win
Reviewer: Cord Heuer

Over the last century, the incidence of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) has increased. They are often zoonoses, and consequently can have significant impacts on both public and animal health. Veterinary epidemiologists have an important role in prevention, detection, response and control of EIDs. Application of a One Health approach and biosecurity principles are required, as well as knowledge of surveillance systems, analysis of epidemiological data and communication skills.

This module is about emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. We are going to use examples of EIDs in this module to learn about their common features and how they emerge. You will also learn about detection and response principles that are specific to EIDs.

Team Leader: Viki Brookes
Team Member(s): Jane Heller
In-country partner(s): Andy Yombo
Reviewer: Cord Heuer

This module is about the prevention of zoonotic diseases. The World Health Organization defines zoonoses as ‘any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans’. To prevent zoonotic diseases, we require general and specific knowledge of the pathogen, disease characteristics and transmission. We need to be familiar with potential control measures and the capacity to coordinate action across human and animal health environments. This module will address all these aspects and will use examples to allow us to apply knowledge to real-life scenarios.

Once this module is complete, you should be able to describe how and why zoonotic diseases spread. You should be able to implement control measures to prevent and reduce the occurrence of zoonotic diseases.

Team Leader: Jane Heller
Team Member(s): Art Subharat, Shumaila Arif
In-country partner(s): Vannaphone Phouthana
Reviewer: Marta Hernandez-Jover

Biosecurity is a set of measures designed to protect a country, region or property from animal diseases, infections or infestations to, from and within an animal population. Biosecurity is critical to maintaining a farm, region or country free from disease. Biosecurity is also important for veterinarians to protect themselves from zoonotic diseases.

This module provides an overview of biosecurity principles relevant for veterinarians in an outbreak investigation situation. It also shows how to implement these principles for field activities conducted by veterinarians and paraveterinarians. This module will provide you the knowledge and skills for designing a biosecurity protocol for field activities in disease investigations, including when responding to an emergency disease situation. It will also enable you to provide advice on best practice for biosecurity implementation.

Team Leader: Marta Hernandez-Jover
Team Member(s): Victoria Brookes
In-country partner(s): Andy Yombo
Reviewer: Jane Heller

SARS-CoV-2 is an emergent animal virus of the family coronaviridae. This is a group of RNA viruses that have been responsible for previous outbreaks of public health importance globally. The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes a disease named COVID-19 which became a pandemic.

In this module, we describe the emergence of a new pathogen, emphasising animal-human interface pathways. The exercises presented will help you to compare approaches for managing health in human and animal populations. This module will show you how lessons learned from the international COVID-19 response might be applied to future outbreaks of disease in both human and animal populations. It reinforces concepts previously addressed in this course with a specific focus on COVID-19.

Team Leader: Anne-Lise Chaber
Team Member(s): Mark Stevenson
In-country partner(s): Khrisdiana Putri
Reviewer: Marta Hernandez-Jover

When an outbreak of human leptospirosis occurs, it is important for human and animal health sectors to collaborate to identify possible sources and pathways of infection. This case study will take you through a real-life example.

Governments, international agencies, veterinarians, paraveterinarians and researchers collaborated to identify the possible animal source of an outbreak attributed to an emerging Leptospira serovar in Fiji. This outbreak resulted in 576 human cases, 7% of whom died, following two cyclones and the associated flooding.

In this case study you will learn why floods are often associated with outbreaks of infectious diseases. You will gather information about leptospirosis, form a field team, design a study and interpret the findings in order to identify interventions.

Team Leader: Emilie Vallee
Team Member(s): Cord Heuer
In-country partner(s): Imas Yuyun
Reviewer: Joerg Henning

Combating zoonotic diseases such as rabies requires a One Health approach, and depends upon surveillance, outbreak investigation, control and preventive measures. These require a substantial and long-term commitment of human and financial resources. Success will depend on the implementation of the five pillars of rabies elimination (STOP-R), that is socio-cultural, technical, organisational, political and resource-oriented aspects. Ideally, the investment begins with a systematic review of the priorities for managing rabies exposure pathways. Epidemiological investigation is used to link sources, and uncover reservoirs and vectors of human illness.

The module presents you with an example for ranking rabies exposure based on available data. This enables the public health authority to apply suitable rabies control priorities, improve efficiency and strengthen rabies surveillance.

Team Leader: Art Subharat
Team Member(s): Emilie Vallee
In-country partner(s): Sothyra Tum
Reviewer: Victoria Brookes

This module is an introduction to leadership and its definitions. It allows you to develop awareness about the important role that leadership can play in all realms of your life. It also provides you with an understanding of how the role of leadership has changed over time from a focus on direct authority, power and control to one of influence.

This module helps you to understand the difference between management and leadership.  It will help you think about how you can best contribute to an organisation’s effectiveness as either a manager or a leader, or in both of these roles. The module also highlights the importance of a shared vision in an organisation. Finally, it provides you with practical ways to develop your leadership skills.

Team Leader: Karen Rodrigues
Team Member(s): Andres Perez
In-country partner(s): Widagdo Sri Nugroho
Reviewer: Jenny-Ann Toribio

This module covers the importance of self-awareness, as it is key to becoming an effective leader. If a leader does not possess adequate self-awareness, they are unable to understand others well, which inhibits their ability to demonstrate effective leadership. There is solid evidence that the best leaders are highly attuned to what is happening inside themselves while they are leading and to what is happening with other people. They are very self-aware, and they are very socially aware.

This module helps you understand the elements to develop your self-awareness and self-leadership. It demonstrates a three-step process to help build credibility as a leader.

Team Leader: Karen Rodrigues
Team Member(s): Andres Perez
In-country partner(s): Widagdo Sri Nugroho
Reviewer: Jenny-Ann Toribio

Veterinarians play a critical role in supporting global health through activities targeted at controlling the spread of infectious diseases from animal to human populations and ensuring the safety of food systems. Several intergovernmental and national organisations work together to set policies that support these health efforts. They promote the widespread use of effective practices and standards to promote health, coordinate resources and regulate trade of safe products to consumers.

In the One Health paradigm, a multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach is required to build national and global mechanisms to address current and future health threats at the human-animal-environment interface. This module shows you the basic principles of policy work, introduces the key intergovernmental players, and explores the impact on individual practitioners working within the systems.

Team Leader: Kaylee Myhre-Errecaborde
Team Member(s): Andres Perez, Mary Katherine O’Brien
In-country partner(s): Sothyra Tum
Reviewer: Jenny-Ann Toribio

An effective response to an animal health emergency requires communication to all involved stakeholders, as well as between government sectors. A key component is the maintenance of trust in science and high levels of support for prevention or control measures. This applies especially if these measures challenge personal agency or will negatively impact the livelihood of affected households.

When an animal health emergency occurs, veterinary leaders must be skilled communicators, adept at applying that skill in relationships at all levels, sometimes even on a global scale. This module focuses on communication with the general public via the media. It will enable you to consider what news outlets will be most effective in communicating during the emergency and help you to construct an effective message.

Team Leader: Mieghan Bruce
Team Member(s): Harish Tiwari
In-country partner(s): Tu Tu Zaw Win
Reviewer: Jenny-Ann Toribio