This is a four-day intensive course which allows to see foot-and-mouth (FMD) in an endemic country, discuss with farmers, peers and expert trainers. The course is preceded by an eight-hour virtual Learning induction course.
It can give you the unique opportunity to visit farms with suspected FMD cases and carry out clinical and epidemiological investigations in real time.

The training course is held in an endemic country and although FMD is the main disease covered in the course, other FAST may be explored if present. The topics of the course include Clinical and laboratory diagnosis of FMD; Lesion ageing; Biosecurity; Risk assessment, and Epidemiology and outbreak investigation. This course is suitable for veterinarians and stakeholders working in the private and public sector involved in surveillance of FAST.

The trainee group is usually a small group of maximum 16 trainees in order to receive close mentoring, and the groups include local colleagues in order to create a direct flow of information and knowledge. The course is an intensive, hands-on training and trainees get to spend time on farms, handling animals, ageing lesions, estimating risk factors and interacting with local veterinarians.

The time spent in the classroom is reduced to a minimum, in order to get the most out of a real-time training course. Classwork consists of practical biosecurity exercises, sampling, packaging, lesion ageing and gaining knowledge of the local situation.

At the end of the course, you should be able to recognize FMD in a real life situation as well as ready to cascade your knowledge to colleagues.