In a strategic move to strengthen national biosecurity and guard against the re-emergence of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), veterinary health experts have initiated a high-level partnership with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The Director of Veterinary Services and Cross River State Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRES) Project, Dr. Jude Undiandeye, disclosed this when he led delegation on a courtesy visit to the NCDC Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris, in Abuja.
The visit is part of the national operationalization of the One Health initiative, a collaborative framework linking human, animal and environmental health sectors to prevent and control emerging public health threats.
Dr. Undiandeye was selected alongside other Chief Veterinary Officers following a national consultative meeting on adopting a "last-mile delivery model" for vaccines and veterinary services.
Under the proposed model, Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) and Veterinary Para-Professionals (VPPs) will be deployed across rural and border communities to extend veterinary care, enhance disease surveillance and provide early warning signals at the animal-human interface.
Speaking during the visit, Dr. Undiandeye noted that Cross River State's involvement in the national dialogue aligns local veterinary defence systems with Federal disease control infrastructure. Given the State's extensive forest belt and international borders, robust grassroots surveillance is vital to protecting public health and safeguarding livestock investments.
Stakeholders at the engagement emphasized that seamless information sharing and joint surveillance between animal health authorities and public health agencies remain critical to containing zoonotic outbreaks before they escalate into national epidemics.
According to them, the initiative marks a significant step toward embedding veterinary expertise into Nigeria's epidemic preparedness and response architecture.
