Policy Markets Treatments and Prevention

EuFMD Presents First e-Learning Course

EU - As part of the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) programme to support Foot-and-Mouth Disease preparedness for its Member States, the EuFMD training team has collaborated with the Royal Veterinary College, London, to create an e-learning site which complements its existing training activities.

11 October 2013

2 minute read

According to the FAO, the EuFMD e-learning site is currently operational and includes the induction course and the reports from previous real time training courses, as well as an Foot-and-Mouth Disease Emergency Preparation Course.

The FMD Emergency Preparation Course (FEP-C) is being reviewed by the EuFMD’s Standing Technical Committee before its wider release, planned before the end of 2013.

This rapid and intense option is a 4-hour e-learning course of four modules, with pre- and post-course assessment exercises, photos, videos, and a brief introduction to all the aspects to be faced during an emergency. When it is released more widely, it will be accompanied by an initial webinar to introduce the course, a more detailed post-course assessment, and tutorial support via the discussion forum for trainees.

What gaps does it address?

If a country experiences an FMD emergency, it can be difficult to rapidly train large numbers of vets in key FMD issues – particularly if vets are recruited from non-government service to provide support. In such a situation, this course can be made available rapidly (our goal is within one working day) to large numbers of member state vets, enabling them to do the course. Veterinary management can then be provided with a list of who has completed the course, and will have confidence that a basic level of training has therefore been achieved.
EuFMD already provides each member state with the option of having some vets trained in FMD on their real-time courses, but veterinary management may wish to have larger numbers of vets trained on FMD. This course will be made available (probably for a set period of two weeks, three times a year) to member states who can then nominate a number of vets to take part. Such a session would be accompanied by a tutor (one of the EuFMD team) on the forum to encourage discussion and answer questions. This training of course is not as in-depth or comprehensive as the real-time courses, but it can complement and support other training activities such as seminars. In an environment of reduced resources for veterinary services, this e-learning course may be able to fill a training gap in an efficient way, supporting member state preparedness.