Crimea, Ukraine - September 11, 2009 - Although avian influenza (AI) has disappeared from the headlines, it remains a very real threat, particularly in communities where most residents keep flocks of chickens, ducks, or turkeys. The challenge to IRD’s Rapid Response to Avian Influenza in Ukraine program, funded by USAID, is holding the public’s interest.

To keep the population alert to the AI threat and persuade rural residents and poultry raisers about the necessity to practice safe poultry handling, IRD has looked for innovative approaches that will constantly remind people of the danger of AI.

In one example, the NGO Fauna, based in Southern Crimea, developed a short film and video public service announcement (PSA) in close cooperation with specialists trained under the Rapid Response program. The film demonstrates the poultry-keeping standards and practices used by the residents of Zavet-Leninsky village.

  “Thanks to strict adherence to biosafety rules, and practices in our park, not a single bird died during the avian influenza outbreak,” says Mykola Arsievych, Director of the Naturalist and Environmental Protection Center. “We have the good experience to tell everyone how to keep your poultry safe from AI and what not to do to let AI infect our birds.”

The AI film and PSA were broadcast on a local TV channel, reaching 30, 000 residents in the Dzhankoysky area.

“I watched the program about AI on TV. Those rules are really useful,” says Mira Sirotina, a resident of Solnechnoye. “Earlier I let my poultry roam free on the grass all around the yard, but I told my husband to fix the coop the way they showed in the program. We thought we combated bird flu forever, but specialists say that it can come back any time as wild birds fly around and carry the virus. I don’t need this trouble in my household. It’s better to have everything arranged properly.”

“It’s very timely indeed, as avian influenza is a real threat and it exists all the time and all over the world,” says Lyudmila Yatsishina, Head of the Veterinary Department of Dzhankoysky county. “The best way to protect ourselves from AI is through prevention, following biosecurity regulations. The Rapid Response program was very helpful. We worked together in mobile teams and trained specialists. Every year more and more households are turning to safe poultry handling practices.”

The film was also provided to village schools. Over 15,000 school-children will be able to watch it at the beginning of the school year, thus getting prepared for autumn migration of birds.

“We are telling our parents about AI,” says thirteen-year-old Anastasiya Pleshkova of Vilne, a winner of the AI drawing contest that was conducted by the Rapid Response program. “What a shame that there are still some villagers who don’t want to take care of their poultry. They still have free-range poultry. It’s so careless! Perhaps, some adults should be educated as well.”

Since 2006, IRD has operated the Rapid Response program, which has trained nearly 10,000 specialists in AI response and containment; produced over 500,000 AI leaflets, booklets, and posters; and conducted a successful mass-media campaign that resulted in articles, TV and radio news spots, and video and audio PSAs. More than 300 school students have participated in a drawing contest, a regional contest judged households on the best poultry practices, and musical theater performances drew more than 11,000 spectators.