The County’s Department of Agriculture and Livestock has partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and USAid to train veterinary officers on prevention, detection and timely responses to disease outbreaks.

FAO and USAid officials are in the Uasin Gishu for the graduation of trainees on front-line service applied Epidemiology dissemination and graduation workshop, a programme designed to help frontline veterinary staff to fill in the gaps in the animal health sector.

According to Veterinary Director Dr. Philip Biama, who was the chief guest during the graduation, the partnership has supported the County to improve the capacity of veterinary services. The graduation was held at an Eldoret Hotel.

The organization (FAO) has assisted us in the implementation of an In-Service Applied Veterinary Epidemiology Training (ISAVET) that targets frontline veterinary staff, mentors and trainers,” said the director.

Dr. Biama acknowledged the major contribution of ISAVET in enhancing the capacity of frontline animal health workers, the foot soldiers in the control and management of trans-boundary animal diseases.

He urged the graduates to utilize the acquired knowledge and skills in enhancing animal health surveillance and establishing borderless animal health services at various regional borders.

The county official also had a message to the graduates: ” I urge you to combat the emergence and spread of animal diseases, zoonoses and related threats such as antimicrobial resistance, which all pose a serious threat to global health security.”

The third phase of the four-month training commenced on 7th June 2022. This includes one month of theoretical class training and three months of home-based mentored training at the trainees’ respective duty stations.