Basic Field Epidemiology Session 2 – Overview of Epidemiology Recorded PowerPoint file

In Session 2 we will explore: The main roles of para-vets What is epidemiology Why epidemiology can be useful to para-vets The importance of both veterinary clinical skills and field epidemiology skills in animal health How epidemiological skills can help prevent zoonosis, as an example VOICE OVER During this session, we will be looking at what field epidemiology is and why it is relevant to para-veterinarians. Para-veterinarians play a vitally important role in Indonesia’s animal health services and are able to offer immediate benefit to livestock owners in their area. Para-veterinarians improve animal health and production by diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease in animals. They are also build an important link between farmers and the government. In addition, para vets report disease to the iSIKHNAS system and this important information allows users of the system at every level to make immediate use of the data, take good decisions and use the animal health resources efficiently.

Field Epidemiology helps Understand causes of disease in animal populations (groups of animals) Can explain why disease is occurring even when you don’t know what the disease is Provide better disease treatment and prevention advice to farmers VOICE OVER This training will provide additional skills in field epidemiology. Field epidemiology skills will build on your clinical skills and help you to:   understand causes of disease at the population level to explain why diseases are occurring, even when you don’t know what the disease is provide better disease treatment and prevention advice to farmers Field epidemiology skills involve looking at diseases in groups of animals - the population level.

iSIKHNAS = Indonesia’s new animal health information system. VOICE OVER Field epidemiology skills will also help you provide good data to iSIKHNAS and to use iSIKHNAS information to help monitor, prevent, and treat disease within your area.

Budi’s place Sick calf Abscess at navel Pak Paimin Examine calf Drain abscess Treat VOICE OVER The following examples illustrates the advantages of epidemiological skills.   We start with a single sick animal. On Budi’s farm a single calf develops an abscess at the navel… where the umbilical cord attached to the calf during pregnancy. The calf becomes depressed and stops drinking. Pak Paimin the Para-veterinarian examines the calf, detects the swelling at the navel, diagnoses an abscess, and cuts it to drain the pus. He also treats the calf with antibiotic so it can make a complete recovery. This example involves veterinary clinical skills being applied to a single sick animal. [make text box appear at end of voice over for this slide]

Budi’s place Sick calf – navel abscess Knowledge of the epidemiology of navel abscesses in calves Allows para-vets to provide best advice on Treatments Prevention in other healthy calves Provide a clean, dry calving environment, Make sure each calf gets a good drink of milk in first 6 hours after birth VOICE OVER The sick calf gets better following treatment.   Pak Paimin uses his knowledge about the epidemiology of navel abscesses in calves to guide the way he treats the animal and the advice he gives the farmer about preventing future cases In sick animals the abscess is often walled off and able to be opened with a knife and drained. If the opened abscess is kept clean and draining it should heal very well. Causes of navel abscesses include a dirty calving environment that is wet and contaminated with bacteria, and where calves do not drink the special milk (colostrum) in the first few hours after birth that helps to build their immune system and ability to fight infection. Knowledge of the epidemiology allows the para-vet to provide advice to the farmer that will help heal the sick animal and prevent more cases from occurring. [make text box appear at end of voice over for this slide]

Field Epidemiology can help answer question like: Why has anthrax occurred at this place and time and in these animals? Anthrax - How can I stop animals? I don’t know what it is? How can I stop animals dying and more becoming sick? Why, during the rainy season, do my cows get diarrhoea 3 weeks after my neighbours cattle are sick? VOICE OVER Here are some more examples of the sorts of problem where field epidemiology skills, together with veterinary clinical skills will help you to provide better advice to animal owners. [ have each bullet point appear one at a time with voice over] Field epidemiology skills involve understanding why disease occurs at one place or time and not another. Field epidemiology skills will help you to provide advice to animal owners to stop animals dying. Field epidemiology skills will help you to investigate and control a disease even when the cause or causes may be unknown or not well understood Field epidemiology skills will help you to explain how and why disease occurs through understanding the interaction between multiple causes

rabies, brucellosis, Q fever, leptospirosis, psittacosis, Nipah virus Zoonoses rabies, brucellosis, Q fever, leptospirosis, psittacosis, Nipah virus VOICE OVER There are a number of diseases of animals in Indonesia that are capable of causing disease in humans. Zoonoses are diseases of animals that can also infect humans. Epidemiology skills help you to understand how zoonotic diseases occur and how to prevent both animals and humans from exposure and infection.

Epidemiology is the study of the patterns and causes of disease in populations Field Epidemiology skills will help understand the causes of disease at the population level, and this will help explain why diseases are occurring VOICE OVER The definition of Epidemiology is the study of the patterns and diseases in populations Field Epidemiology will help you understand disease within populations and this will help explain why disease is occurring  

Para-vets need to be able to: recognise sick animals (clinical veterinary skills) AND have well developed field epidemiology skills VOICE OVER To be a really good para-veterinarian, you need veterinary clinical skills and field epidemiology skills. Together these two skills will help you provide better disease treatment and control advice to farmers.   Field epidemiology skills will also help you to use iSIKHNAS. Lots of para-veterinarians can enter data on animal health and disease into iSIKHNAS. The information which is available from iSIKHNAS will help you to monitor and control diseases within your area. As farmers learn that you can provide better health care and advice, they will ask for your help more often. There might then be more opportunity for Para-veterinarians to treat animals and increase their income. Healthy animals are also more productive so farmers will make more money.

(examination, diagnosis, treatment) One sick animal (examination, diagnosis, treatment) Advice on future prevention of disease in that one animal Advice on early detection & prevention in other animals on the same farm Large disease outbreaks & zoonotic risks to human health Animals on other farms Veterinary clinical skills Epidemiology skills This slide is meant to show the way that both veterinary clinical skills and epidemiology skills are important for para-vets and vets. Both veterinary clinical skills and epidemiology skills are important all the time. When a para-vet is dealing with one sick animal and you examine the animal, make a diagnosis and treat that sick animal, you are mainly using veterinary clinical skills BUT epidemiology skills are still important even though we may not realise it. When you treat a sick animal, you may give the farmer advice on how he can help prevent that animal getting sick again in the future.. This sort of advice uses your epidemiology skills – your knowledge about how the disease might occur and how to prevent it. Epidemiology skills become more and more important as you give advice on how to prevent other healthy animals from getting sick with the same disease (animals on the same farm and then animals on other adjacent farms). When you are involved in large scale disease outbreaks and in giving advice to prevent people getting sick from animals (zoonotic diseases) then epidemiology skills are even more important than veterinary clinical skills.

Session 2 - Summary Epidemiology is the study of the patterns and causes of disease in populations. Field epidemiology means applying epidemiology skills in the field - on farms and in day-to-day work to address real problems for farmers Para-vets need veterinary clinical skills & field epidemiology skills. Field epidemiology training will help para-veterinarians to: understand causes of disease & use this knowledge to: explain why diseases are occurring and provide better advice to farmers on disease treatment and prevention VOICE OVER During this session, we looked at: The main roles of para-vets What is epidemiology Why epidemiology can be useful to para-vets The differences between the clinical approach to animal health and the epidemiological approach How epidemiological skills can help prevent zoonosis, as an example The key concepts to take home are: Epidemiology is the study of the patterns and causes of disease in populations. Field epidemiology means applying epidemiology skills in the field - on farms and in day-to-day work to address real problems for farmers Para-vets need veterinary clinical skills & field epidemiology skills. Field epidemiology training will help para-veterinarians to understand causes of disease & use this knowledge to explain why diseases are occurring and provide better advice to farmers on disease treatment and prevention

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