A practical poultry health course aimed at industry specialists has made a welcome return to The Pirbright Institute after a five-year hiatus.
Some 16 participants from veterinary practices and government agencies joined the week-long series of hands-on practical sessions, demonstrations and lectures delivered in collaboration with the University of Surrey.
Attendees enjoyed lectures and practical demonstrations provided by 23 tutors. Practical sessions covered included postmortem examination, real-time PCR, bacterial culture identification and microscopy for parasite identification.
Guest lecturers at the forefront of their respective fields covered key virological, bacteriological, and parasitological poultry diseases, whilst industry experts led discussions on antimicrobial resistance, hatchery practice and field investigations.
“Just thank you for all your hard work which enabled me (us) to be part of this course. Invaluable experience. Well done to everyone involved,” said one student.
Another added: “When asked ‘what was the most useful part of the course,’ it wasn’t only a part, the whole course was useful.”
“Thank you for the entire experience last week,” wrote another. “It was invaluable. It was a pleasure to meet you and all others. I feel I have benefited from the course both mentally and emotionally. It was exhausting, but a lot of fun, too.”
The course brought together expertise from the Pirbright Institute, the University of Surrey, the University of Liverpool, the University of Bristol, Slate Hall Veterinary Services, Crowshall Veterinary Services, the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), St Davids Poultry Team, Poultry Health Services, the UK Government’s Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Pirbright’s Animal Services poultry team.
Course co-organisers Dr Susan Baigent (The Pirbright Institute), Professor Roberto La Ragione (University of Surrey) and Lorraine Frost (The Pirbright Institute) said: “The course was intensive, combining lectures on virology, bacteriology, parasitology and industry topics with discussion sessions, quizzes and networking opportunities. It was quite an exhausting week all round, but, judging by the feedback, an extremely rewarding experience for all those who joined us.”
The course is expected to return in 2025. To be added to the waitlist, please email pirbright.training@pirbight.ac.uk