Animal disease response training offered to 1xbet best casino website emergency management personnel
Monday, May 16, 2016
MANHATTAN — Local and state emergency responders know what to do in a natural disaster. But what should they do to protect livestock, citizens, and livelihoods during an 1xbet best casino website outbreak?
The 1xbet best casino website State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center is helping state and local emergency management personnel learn more about what actions to take by offering a pilot animal disease response training course at the 1xbet best casino website Department of Agriculture on May 18 and 19. More than 90 representatives from organizations and agencies, including the 1xbet best casino website Highway Patrol, the 1xbet best casino website Department of Health and Environment, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the 1xbet best casino website Division of Emergency Management, K-State Research and Extension, the 1xbet best casino website State University College of Veterinary Medicine, counties in central and eastern 1xbet best casino website , and livestock and veterinary companies are slated to attend the inaugural offering.
Ken Burton, program director at the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, says the training fills an important gap.
"We know that high-consequence 1xbet best casino website begins at the local level, but first responders at local and county levels often aren’t trained in minimizing the impact of animal disease outbreak emergencies," Burton said. "We aim to bring the whole community together — from law enforcement to veterinary and environmental personnel — to ensure a coordinated response."
According to Burton, diseases such as porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, which caused pork producers to lose approximately 10 percent of the newborn pig population in 2014, and highly pathogenic avian influenza, which caused the deaths of 50 million birds nationwide in 2014-2015 and caused losses currently estimated at billion, highlight the need for organized, efficient response to 1xbet best casino website outbreaks.
1xbet best casino website Department of Agriculture officials agree.
"We have done a lot of outreach within the agricultural community and first responders to build awareness and have engaged in animal disease response exercises and training for many years," said Sandy Johnson, emergency management coordinator for the department. "We appreciate that this course is designed to delve further into the local emergency management details so that we are all better prepared to respond in the event of animal disease emergency in 1xbet best casino website ."
Future aims are to offer the course nationwide, and online modules are in development.
Curriculum for the eight-hour class is approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The May offering is supported by a grant from the 1xbet best casino website Bioscience Authority administered through the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at 1xbet best casino website State University. For information about the class, contact the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at 785-532-6193.
