RMR News - MSU Training for Foot and Mouth Disease Emergency Response

Summary: The Montana Agro-Emergency Preparedness Committee and MSU Extension will present the tabletop scenario and exercise "Locally Responding to Foot and Mouth Disease" at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in Bozeman .

BOZEMAN – The Montana Agro-Emergency Preparedness Committee will present the tabletop scenario and exercise "Locally Responding to Foot and Mouth Disease" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at Montana State University in Bozeman . The event will take place at the Procrastinator Theatre in the Strand Union Building .

Livestock producers, advisers, county Extension agents and veterinarians represent the front line for foreign animal disease detection in animal production systems. The early identification and reporting of potential foreign animal diseases to state animal health authorities provides one of the best opportunities for early disease detection and is critical to limiting the scope of an outbreak. Increasing foreign animal disease awareness and preparedness has been an industry priority and has resulted in the development and delivery of this tabletop exercise training tool for livestock producers, veterinarians, emergency response professionals, law enforcement and stakeholders at the state and local level.

This literal tabletop exercise is an interactive training tool that uses a scale model of a rural American community including farms, ranches, livestock facilities and a small town to help participants visualize what would occur locally during an animal disease disaster. The exercise walks the audience through a foot and mouth disease outbreak focusing on the effects at the local level and the operations that must occur to contain, manage and eradicate the disease. Participants rapidly become a part of the response effort from diagnosing the first case, mobilizing the local response, controlling and eradicating the disease, and getting back to business as usual. The roles of state and federal agencies are also explained and integrated into the exercise. This interactive training has been well received by producers, veterinarians and state and local first responders.

This training event is distributed through the Montana Agro-Emergency Preparedness Committee and MSU Extension. It is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Montana Disaster and Emergency Services. Through grant funding and agency cooperation, the program is provided at no cost to participants. Continuing Education credits have been requested for veterinarians, veterinary technicians and professional animal scientists.

To RSVP for this event, contact Thomas Bass, e-mail tmbass@montana.edu or call (406) 994-5733. For more information, contact Dr. Jeanne Rankin, e-mail jeanne.rankin@montana.edu

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