| RESEARCH MANAGEMENT CENTRE

40 takes part in wild animals’ zoonotic disease prevention training

SANDAKAN - Malaysia's One Health University Network (MyOHUN), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) held a Zoonotic Prevention Training for Wild Animals and Tropical Ecosystem Health.

A total of 40 participants consisted of those from the Veterinary and Medicine programs were from UPM, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UniMAS), Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and University of Malaya (UM).

Head of Project, Dr. Tengku Rinalfi Putra Tengku Azizan said the training focused on diseases that could be transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa.

"This training nurture awareness of endangered wild animal and the causes of it to be listed as an endangered species," he said.

He stated that participants were given an understanding of the interaction between wildlife, humans and the environment as well as appreciating the importance of working together in order to achieve the goal of preventing transmitted diseases.

"This training exposes the participants of awareness as future One Health ambassador where teamwork can make the world a better place to live," he said.

Also participated in the training were Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center (SORC) and six fellows from Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) from Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Second year student of Veterinary Medicine, UPM, Ilyas Hanafi Razali, said the training increased participants’ knowledge, including the impact of how infectious diseases can eliminate the whole species if the action preventing the action is not taken.

At the beginning of the training, participants were introduced to training through lectures from experts such as Dr. Chris Whittier and Prof. Dr. Stanley Gordon Fenwick from Tufts University, USA.

Participants were then introduced to the orangutan case module using the Problem Based Learning approach in the Orangutan case through several situations. Participants are required to fill FILA tables (Facts, Ideas, Problems, and Actions) to investigate the case using the facts provided in the situation.

They also went on a field trip to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center to take a closer look at the situation and imagining what they learned through the situation in the behavior, habitat and also the animal’s feeds.

The journey to Gua Gomantong and the Kinabatangan River gave participants more exposure on the behavior of wildlife in their natural habitats.

On the last day of the training, each group presented the outcome of the discussion for each given situation, and shared their experience during the training. - UPM

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