Poultry disease response program draws upon UD’s expertise
The first graduates of
UD's Emergency Poultry Disease Response Certificate, Fall
2009.
With the poultry industry acting as one
of the keystones of the Delaware economy, the threat of
the outbreak of poultry disease is a serious concern in
the state. To address the issue, the Avian
Biosciences Center in UD’s College
of Agriculture and Natural Resources joined forces
with UD’s Professional
and Continuing Studies to develop a certificate that
would offer the special expertise residing at the University
to the poultry industry in Delaware and beyond.
“The Emergency
Poultry Disease Response Certificate grew out of international
avian influenza training efforts in Romania and Bulgaria
that the University was involved in,” says Dr. Eric Benson,
one of the instructors for the certificate and associate
professor in the Bioresources
Engineering and Animal
and Food Sciences departments. “We felt that the same
information was essential for Delmarva and other parts
of the country and developed the training program to maximize
the benefit for the industry.”
The certificate was first offered in the
fall of 2009, partially funded by a grant through the
USDA-sponsored Avian
Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project (AICAP).
It drew ten participants from across the country. A second
offering in 2010 drew 22 participants from six continents.
“The
main goal of the Emergency Poultry Disease Response certificate
program is to prepare participants for emergency response
to poultry disease outbreaks and natural disasters,” comments
Robert Alphin, certificate instructor and instructor in
the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. "As part of
this training, we explain how the 'Delaware Model,' which
emphasizes strong cooperation of the University of Delaware,
government, and industry, has been very successful in
dealing with poultry emergencies."
Alphin notes that one of the goals of the
certificate is for participants to transfer their newly-learned
skills to others in their organizations. “Many of our
first year participants have already run training programs
in their organizations making use of the knowledge they
gained from the course and using course materials from
our course website.”
Benson adds that certificate participants
already had an opportunity to implement ideas from the
certificate. “During the February snow storms,” he says,
“graduates from last year’s course were able to use many
of the skills they learned to prepare for disease outbreaks
to help respond to structurally collapsed poultry houses.”
The Emergency Poultry Disease Response Certificate
stresses preparedness planning, biosecurity and assessment
tools, and rapid response techniques and technology –
the three critical aspects of successfully managing an
outbreak of potentially catastrophic poultry disease.
In addition, participants earn continuing education units
for license renewal purposes and have a chance to engage
with fellow poultry veterinarians and agricultural professionals
from around the U.S. and the world.
The certificate is a four day intensive
experience held in Newark. Instructors use a mixture of
seminar, discussions and hands-on technology demonstrations
to convey the course material. Other instructors include
Jack Gelb Jr., professor and chair of the Department of
Animal and Food Sciences, Daniel Bautista, director of
the Lasher Laboratory, Brian S. Ladman, associate scientist
in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, and Krista
L. Murray, biosafety officer, Occupational Health & Safety.
George Irvine, program manager in Professional and Continuing
Studies, coordinates the program.
Alphin sums up, “This certificate program
provides one more way for us in the College of Agriculture
and Natural Resources and the Avian Biosciences Center
at the University of Delaware to use the knowledge gained
from our multiple research efforts and to transfer this
knowledge to those who need it in the community.”
“The
main goal of the Emergency Poultry Disease Response certificate
program is to prepare participants for emergency response
to poultry disease outbreaks and natural disasters,” comments
Robert Alphin, certificate instructor and instructor in
the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. "As part of
this training, we explain how the 'Delaware Model,' which
emphasizes strong cooperation of the University of Delaware,
government, and industry, has been very successful in
dealing with poultry emergencies."