Biosecurity education for traders to reduce the spread of animal diseases in Lao PDR and Cambodia

摘要

It has been recognised that regulation alone has limited potential for controlling trans-boundary diseases in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The 'Understanding livestock movement and risk of spread of trans-boundary animal diseases' project therefore aimed to investigate novel non-regulatory methods of reducing the disease risk associated with livestock movements. During 2008 and 2009, meetings and interviews were conducted with livestock traders throughout Cambodia and Laos. These identified a number of trading practices that carried a high risk of spreading disease, and suggested that many traders were keen to receive education about preventing disease spread. In early 2010, the project began developing and trialling educational materials for improving biosecurity practices by livestock traders in the two countries. Traders requested that information be presented in a colour booklet with many images and minimal text. To include people with limited literacy, a digital story was produced that matched a spoken commentary with video or DVD images, and could be easily distributed throughout Laos and Cambodia. English and Lao versions of the booklet and digital story were refined, with disease prevention messages distilled into a '5-step' approach to biosecurity for traders to routinely apply on all purchasing trips.