CROSS RIVER, Nigeria – Cross River State is seeking to strengthen Ebola surveillance and prevent infectious disease outbreaks through a proposed partnership between veterinary health authorities and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The Director of Veterinary Services in Cross River State and Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project, Dr Jude Undiandeye, was part of a delegation of veterinary officials that met the NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, in Abuja on Wednesday to discuss disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and response.
The engagement followed a national consultative meeting at which Undiandeye and other Chief Veterinary Officers were selected to engage the NCDC leadership on strategies to strengthen disease prevention and control.
A key proposal was to introduce a last-mile delivery model that would extend veterinary services, vaccines and disease surveillance to underserved rural and border communities through Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) and Veterinary Paraprofessionals (VPPs).
The proposed initiative aims to improve the early detection and reporting of potential disease threats, particularly zoonotic infections that can spread between animals and humans. The discussions also highlighted the need for stronger information sharing and collaboration between veterinary and human health professionals under the One Health approach, which recognises the links between human, animal and environmental health.
Cross River’s extensive forest belt, rural settlements and international borders make grassroots disease surveillance particularly important for identifying emerging threats and supporting timely public health interventions. The proposed partnership is expected to explore practical measures to improve disease monitoring and emergency preparedness as part of wider efforts to prevent Ebola and other infectious disease outbreaks.
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