PNG farmers lack training on Animal Health Disease Surveillance
This concern was raised by PNG UNRE Animal Science lecturer Charles
Maika recently during his presentation “Animal
Health Disease Surveillance and Its Importance to PNG” at a weekly seminar
attended by University staff and students.
Mr Maika said in the past PNG was isolated and as a result the country
was free from some of the diseases that affected the livestock of other
countries, but this has now changed.
He said there is now an increase in people’s movement, trade agreements
with other countries, high demand for livestock production in the country, and
moreover it is difficult to monitor the country’s boarder areas.
He explained that because of PNG’s location - Indonesia on the west,
Solomon Islands on the east and Australia on the south - it is vulnerable to
diseases.
Mr Maika said because of these factors, farmers critically need
training and awareness to understand the signs and movement of diseases, whom
to report and how to deal with the animal disease if they are faced with.
“In PNG we have many small farmers who are farming animals without an animal
veterinarian,” he said.
He said the ratio of a vet to animal population in PNG is 1: 3million
animals and vet to human is 1 vet to 500,000 humans.
Mr Maika said this is very critical and government and stakeholders need
to address this to build human capacity.
“Any disease affecting animals in the country will reduce production
and income, be unsafe for human consumption and some diseases can even cross
over to human beings,” he said.
He said farmers have a responsibility to report to appropriate
institutions like National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (NAQIA)
if they see animals suffering from any kinds of disease but stressed that
farmers should not approach the media to create alarm.
Mr Maika said PNG is not working in isolation but has good
understanding with Australia and other international organisations to carryout surveillance
activities in the country.
These international organisations are keyed into supporting animal
health concerns across the globe.
According to NAQIA, animal health surveillance comprises of passive
surveillance (through reports of disease through regional animal health
services, province and general public, as well as during observation of meat
inspections); and active surveillance (with NAQIA and provincial animal health
officers doing patrols to actively collect samples for disease tests). NAQIA
normally concentrates on Sandaun and Western province as areas of high risk and
priority but is also active in the New Guinea Islands and coastlines of the
mainland where logging and fishing activities occur as they are high quarantine
risk areas.
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| File photo: Fourth-year agriculture students in 2017, Kenneth Yang (left) and Terence Wangi check the number of teeth this goat has to determine its age. This was while on a field trip to Bitapaka Integrated Correspondence School. |
