By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Federal Government in collaboration with Oyo State Government has inaugurated a new software application National Animal Disease Information System (NADIS) Mobile Application, to track and report animal disease outbreak in Oyo State.
NADIS Co-ordinating and Director, Oyo state Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Gideon Alade stated this on Wednesday in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan on a training organized for private and public animal health workers, held at the Conference Room of the State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
According to Mr Alade, the app will enable veterinary outfits, both public and private or the University sectors to accurately report cases of disease outbreak near them, which will be followed by prompt intervention from Government at all levels.
He stressed that the application can be downloaded on Play Store as VETSARK or via mobile browsers by typing nadis.mobile.ng, adding, ” by
doing so, disease outbreaks can easily be curbed before causing much damage”.
Mr Alade pointed out that the purpose of the training session was to teach private and public Vets on how to use the National Animal Disease Information System (NADIS), and also to improve and expand their surveillance points.
The lead facilitator at the training, Dr. Olaseju Taiwo, a Vet and Pest Control expert from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the new software has two applications, the NADIS-mobile which is for collection of data from the field, and NADIS-admin for viewing reported diseases and for analysis.
In his presentation, the Head, State Disease Reporting Records Collation and Epidemiology Unit, Dr. Kareem Akeem, stated that disease reporting must be systematic and timely, and that ” it is a form of communication about diseases affecting animals which involves the collection and submission of data on disease cases to the appropriate authorities, responsible for surveillance and control.”
Dr. Akeem maintained stressed that Laboratories, livestock producers, research institutions, animal owners and government agencies are key entities that play a role in identifying and reporting disease cases.
In his opening remarks, the Co-ordinating Director, Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Opawusi Olalekan, said the purpose of the training is to equip animal health workers with the needed knowledge on disease reporting, adding that the training will help them on how to improve their practice at their various veterinary outfits for the good of the public.
Welcoming participants to the training session, the State Director of Veterinary Services, Dr. (Mrs.) L.S. Azeez said the training was timely considering the recent outbreak of deadly zoonotic diseases such as Anthrax, that ravage few African countries, killing animals and people.
Dr Azeez noted that the training will assist the State Government to have timely and accurate disease reporting format and also to curb and prevent outbreak of disease and tasked Private Veterinary Outfits to give their maximum cooperation to the government officers in collation of disease reports throughout the State.
The training was attended by veterinary doctors from the private, public, and university sectors, alongside all the directors of agriculture from the 33LGs of the state.
