The 2021 session of the University of Delaware’s Emergency Poultry Disease Response Certificate Symposium has come to an end. Like most events over the last 18 months, EPDR was held virtually this year. The virtual format didn’t keep EPDR from being a fantastic learning experience for both this year’s international cohort and the diverse group of trainers.
A glance at the program’s objectives reveals how valuable the program is:
1. Participants will understand the elements of successfully planning for and responding to a poultry disease outbreak, including state/regional and national policies, dealing with live bird markets/backyard flocks, incident command management structures, surveillance of wild birds and commercial poultry, and multi-jurisdictional cooperation.
2. Participants will understand the personnel requirements to successfully respond to poultry disease outbreaks.
3. Participants will understand the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements for personnel responding to an outbreak.
4. Participants will understand the options available to cull sick flocks (CO2, foam, etc.).
5. Participants will understand the options to dispose of culled flocks including in-house composting.
6. Participants will learn the key characteristics of a disinfection strategy and techniques to clean and disinfect poultry houses and equipment.
This year’s cohort included participants from Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gabon, India, Korea, Kosovo, Mauritania, Montenegro, Myanmar, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
Special thanks to Brian Ladman and Dan Hougentogler with the University of Delaware for planning and coordinating this amazing event and to the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services for funding the event for the last ten years.
Finally, I want to thank my fellow trainers: Fidel Hegngi, John Metzer, Erin Brannick, Corrie Brown, Holly Porter, Aliza Simeone, Ava Grace Flory, Heather Hirst, Pam Kuipers, Julian Sparrey, Denise Heard, John Clifford, and Ishtiaq Ahmed.
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