Vietnam Veterinarians Get ‘Refresher’ Course on Chicken Health

Vietnam veterinarians get ‘refresher’ course on managing poultry diseases

The refresher course enables field veterinary advisers to update their knowledge and develop practical skills to better manage disease prevention and control.

The first session of a new refresher course on “Management of Poultry Diseases” was held June 18-24, 2008, in Hanoi for 25 Vietnamese veterinarians, most of whom are field advisors for medium- and large-scale poultry farms. This course, to be available until October 2008, is co-organized by ASVELIS and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Hanoi, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The idea to design and deliver such a course developed out of key observations following the difficulties faced by stakeholders in Vietnam in dealing with avian influenza. The refresher course enables field veterinary advisors to update their knowledge and develop practical skills to better manage chicken disease prevention and control.

Course instruction was led by Dr Eugène Goater, a well-known French specialist in chicken management and chicken health. Dr Goater has over 40 years of practical experience in veterinary practice, laboratory techniques and farm biosecurity in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He has also served in advisory roles to multinational poultry genetic companies.

According to Dr Goater, “Knowledge about pathogens is one thing but it is not sufficient. The ability to observe animals and their environment in real situations is a pre-condition to understand what is going wrong and the role of the pathogens. The veterinarians who are on an almost daily basis in and around poultry farms are the main ones able to guide disease control because they have this ability. Helping them upgrade their knowledge and practices is essential for any country that wants to improve its animal disease status. This obviously applies to avian influenza.”

Patrice Gautier, a veterinarian in Vietnam since 2000 and the co-founder and manager of ASVELIS added, “Our program aims to improve chicken health management of medium and large scale poultry farms in Vietnam by bringing together the efforts, technical expertise and resources of the public and private sector. The role of field veterinary advisors (most of them being employed by the private sector) is essential to maintaining and improving animal health status in medium and large scale poultry operations. They are also essential in bringing the numerous other farmers who currently have small-scale operations, in making the step towards more professional livestock systems. We, indeed, need to have more professional chicken farmers to help Vietnam reduce the current deficit in chicken products.”

In addition to updating knowledge, the refresher course was a unique opportunity for participants from private companies to share their experience. Participants represented companies such as Proconco, Cargill, AFC, JAPFA, Viphavet, GreenVet, Hai Nguyen, Pfizer, Thai Duong, Dai De and Guyomarch-VCN. Veterinarians from the public sector, the faculty of veterinary medicine and an NGO also attended the course.

The course provided an overview of farm management for broilers, layers and chicken breeding stock, diseases observed in chicken flocks, and ways to prevent and control them. The course was highly interactive with participants asking many questions and discussing key challenges openly.

The next refresher sessions will be organized in August 2008 and will focus on “diseases in ducks.” Asvelis plans to repeat courses in poultry disease management as many times as necessary, and is looking for short- or long-term sponsors to offer similar courses in pig health and “dairy cattle diseases.” ASVELIS is a French-Asian private company specializing in the provision of livestock and animal health services.