African Swine Fever Prevention and Response

We are excited to share Shridula Hegde’s experience below, funded by Dr. Thomas Mack.

From May 1st to May 24th, 2024, I interned at Instituto Interamericano de Cooperacion para la Agricultura (IICA) in San Jose, Costa Rica, where I started establishing a fellowship to advance efforts in African Swine Fever prevention and response.

This fellowship focused on fostering new public health leaders who are experts in African Swine Fever and other hemorrhagic diseases in swine. During my internship, I gained insights into the technical and operational aspects of the organization and observed the dynamics and collaboration of inter-agency work. This included understanding the roles of various agencies involved such as USDA, and OIE, and observing the collaborative efforts to coordinate and implement events. In addition to creating a framework for the fellowship, I thoroughly reviewed the “Book of Interventions to Prevent, Control, and Mitigate Antimicrobial Resistance in the Pig Farming Sector.”

This experience was fruitful for my career as it deepened my interest in capacity building, educating, global contribution, and working in international public health organizations.