A series of One Health Poultry Hub online training sessions targeting poultry farmers, field veterinarians, and veterinary students in Bangladesh is now in its third year. To date, over 10,000 people have participated in these capacity-raising sessions on poultry rearing and the diseases associated with poultry raising, and including learning and advice on disease prevention, control and treatment.

Two training courses, covering 27 training sessions, were held between September 2020 and January 2022, and a third course is underway. Second and third training series have been conducted in collaboration with PUM-Netherlands.

In Bangladesh, the poultry sector is a rising sector of the national economy, second only to the garment sector. However, the farmers, traders, slaughterhouse workers and others in the networks of people that make up poultry production and distribution in the country often have limited knowledge of the importance of poultry health and biosecurity for public health. This includes the risk of diseases transmitted from poultry (zoonoses) and the spread of antibiotic resistance. The online courses were designed to build the participants’ capacity in these areas.

A poultry farmer who participated the course said:

“I think poultry farmers in Bangladesh never had participated in this kind of fantastic online training; The trainer is the best poultry professional in Bangladesh. Really helpful for us. Thanks for organising this type of fantastic training session. I would like to request One Health Poultry Hub Bangladesh team to keep up to continue this excellent training in future”

The first training course provided the space for experts to share knowledge with poultry farmers, field veterinarians, and veterinary students. Session topics ranged from poultry farm management to common diseases, prevention and control, and from poultry feed and nutrition to community-led farm bio-security.

The second training course aimed to prepare field veterinarians, veterinary faculty and advanced veterinary students and faculty members to train poultry farmers and traders on the different aspects of poultry rearing and trading. The topics covered included animal welfare, biosecurity, good management practices, vaccinations, antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, farm data management and analysis, slaughtering andmarketing.

In the context of Covid-19, the team organised the sessions on Zoom and broadcast them on Facebook live. An interactive format enabled participants to share their problems around farm practices and professionals to suggest effective solutions.

A manual based on the training has been shared with relevant stakeholders. Feedback on the training so far has been very encouraging.

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