APRIL 30, 2021

VOL.1

AAVS

POST

The latest news and updates from Asian Association of Veterinary Schools© The University of Tokyo

IN THIS ISSUEMESSAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT-THE ROLE OF AAVSUPDATES ON ACTIVITIES& MESSAGE FROM
SECRETARY GENERAL

Message from the
President-The Role of AAVSby Prof. Masatoshi Hori, the University of Tokyo
I'm Masatoshi Hori from the University of Tokyo, thepresident of AAVS. AAVS is a group of Deans fromveterinary colleges in Asian countries, founded in

MEMBERS' REPORTS

2001.

Veterinary Education in the Time ofsecretariat, which receives support from the World

Covid-19

Organisation

Bogor Agricultural University (IPB),
Indonesia
University of the Philippines Los Baños,

The

University
forofAnimalTokyo
Health

now
(OIE)

has

the

Regional

Representation for Asia and the Pacific. When AAVS
was established in 2001, it was functioning as thePhilippinessocial and information exchange place for Deans ofUniversity of Veterinary Science, Yezin,veterinary colleges in Asian countries. However, theMyanmarsocialUniversity of Veterinary and Animal
Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

situation

surrounding

us

has

changedsignificantly over the last 20 years, and expectations

Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia

for the role of AAVS have expanded.

The University of Tokyo, Japan(to the next page)MAY 2021

VOL.1

The pandemic that emerged in Wuhan, China in

Now is the time for AAVS to collaborate

Decemberthewith international organizations such as

world as “COVID-19.” It is an infectious disease

the OIE to carry out educational activities

caused by SARS-CoV2 virus related to SARS

related(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) caused bytreatment of infectious diseases, and to

SARS-CoV1

train

2019

quicklythat

spreadwas

firstaroundidentified

intoepidemics,

veterinarians

whodiagnosis
have

and

acquired

Guangdong Province, China in 2002. In 2012, a

common high-quality education and skills

similar

MERS-CoV1,(MiddleEastcausesMERS

for animal infectious diseases detection,

Syndrome),wascontrol and prevention in Asian countries.

reported in Saudi Arabia. All of these are bat-

I hope that veterinary colleges in Asian

hosted viruses. On the other hand, in Japan andcountries will work together to achieve

many other countries in the World, a large

thenumber of highly pathogenic avian influenza

realized, they will become a part of efforts

outbreaks occurred in poultry in the winter ofto establish accreditation standards for2020. There are no reported cases of humanveterinary education in Asian countries.

avian

which

Respiratory

influenza

infections

infections in overinJapan,

but

2,000 people have beenreported in Asian countries over the years. In
addition, African swine fever (ASF) has been
confirmed as a livestock infectious disease in
59 countries and territories

and has spreadfrom Africa, to Eastern Europe, Russia, andAsia.
Considering the origin of these viral infectious
diseases, the term "zoonoses" is no longer
valid.

Allvirus

causing

animalinfectious

diseasesmutatethrough

infections

different

animals

such

wild

animals,somevirusespotentiallyresulting

as
in

in

acquiring human infectivity and virulence.
Therefore,diseases

controlling

livestock

infectious

generalcontributes

towards

inprevention of the emergence of zoonoses. In
addition,

since

many

of

these

pandemic-causing viruses originate in Asia, the social
responsibilityofveterinarians

in

Asian

countries to prevent human viral infections isincreasing

year

by

year.

The

spreadoflivestock infectious diseases such as ASF also
threatens food safety and security, given the
global population growth.

program.

If

these

activitiesareMAY 2021

VOL.1

Message from Secretary General

Updates on Past, On-going, andUpcoming Events

Welcome to the first issue of the AAVS Post,

With support of AAVS Office, OIE Regional

the e-Newsletter for AAVS Members!

Representation for Asia and the Pacific, andby Prof. Takeshi Haga, the University of TokyoAAVS Members, AAVS organized several online
The

Newsletter

Members

with

is

aimed

varioustoprovideupdates

from

AAVS

events since the beginning of the year. The

AAVS

details, including copies of the presentations,

Office, as well as a platform for information

are available on the AAVS website.

sharing among Members. The topic of thisAAVS

inaugural issue is “Veterinary Education in the

AAVS-OIE-UGM joint session in ICAVESS on

express my sincere appreciation to the AAVS

Collaboration

Members who kindly contributed the stories on
newsletter,

pleasecontact

AAVS

Office.
AAVSMembers

informationarethroughalso
AAVS

invitedbetweenVEEs

andInternational Organisations
Thank you, the AAVS Members, for your active
participation in these events.
AAVS has also conducted a survey of lecture

to

share

Website.

Underand other learning/teaching materials needs

by

AAVS

and availability in order to facilitate sharing

eventsand“Opportunities,”

announcements

Membersassuch

Veterinary

Education in Asia

2021. On behalf of the AAVS, I would like to

the

on

AAVS session in ICAVESS on Veterinary

our first virtual meeting organized in January

about

Meeting

Education in the time of Covid-19

time of Covid-19” – the same as the theme of

their experiences. For questions and comments

Virtualscientificofresourcesamong

can be posted. I invite you to utilize thecompiled and will be available on a password

function.

protected page of AAVS website by the end ofareinterestedinposinginformation, please contact the AAVS Office.

currentlyThe

collectedyouisMembers.

continuing professional education opportunities
If

information

AAVS

being

May 2021.

SAVE THE DATE!
The next AAVS event is “AAVS Symposium on Accreditation of Veterinary Schools in Asia” to beorganized virtually on 23 July 2021 15:00-17:00 JST.
The 19th General Assembly of AAVS Members, which was postponed from last year, will beorganized virtually on 24 September 2021 16:00-17:00 JST.
If you know any veterinary education institutions in Asia which may be interested in applying tobecome AAVS Members this year, please inform them that an expression of interest should besubmitted to the AAVS by the end of August 2021 along with supporting documents. For more
information, please contact AAVS Office.

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Gross Anatomy Teaching in the
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)
Indonesia during Covid-19 Pandemic
by Srihadi Agungpriyono, Nurhidayat, Heru Setijanto, Chairun Nisa’, Savitri Novelina, Supratikno,
Danang Dwi Cahyadi and Ikhsan Kadarusman, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Bogor Agricultural
University (IPB), Indonesia
Since the first case reported in March 2020,
now, after one year, it has been nearly 1.4
millionpeopleinfected

with

Covid-19

inIndonesia. Entering the new year 2021, the
cases

are

still

increasing.

Ministryof

Education and Culture Indonesia decided that
all teaching in the Indonesian universities has
to be conducted online during this evensemester (February-July 2021).

Veterinary anatomy is a very important subject
in veterinary medical education to give the earlysemester students a better understanding of theanimal structure, function, and behavior. In the
Facultyof

Veterinary

Agricultural

University

Medicine,(IPB),

theBogor
subject

veterinary anatomy consists of gross anatomy,
histology, and embryology. Gross anatomy isgiven to 2nd and 3rd-semester students, divided
into Veterinary Anatomy I, Veterinary Anatomy
II,

and

Topographic

understandingof

Anatomy.
anatomicalBasicterms,

musculoskeletal system, and aesthesiology is
given in Veterinary Anatomy I, while organsystemandavian

anatomy

are

given

in

veterinary anatomy II. Topographic Anatomy
describes the anatomy of important regions inhorsesandimplications.

dogs

relatedtotheirclinicalImage credit: Bogor Agricultural University (IPB)
Figs. 1a and 1b
Specimens for the practice are pre-dissected by lecturers
and are recorded in the video. We use specimens from thehorse (a) or dog and sheep/goat (b). The videos areplaced in the University Lecture Management System(LMS) to be accessed by the students.
Fig. 2aSpecimens in the anatomy teaching including skeletons,
muscles, and organ systems of domestic animals and somewild mammals. Skeletons and bones are prepared forvideo taking.
Fig. 2b
Lecturer records their lectures. The videos are placed in
the University LMS and then accessed by students.
Fig. 3a and 3b
Examples of our atlas of anatomy. The atlas is sent toeach student and used during online lecture and practice.

MAY 2021

VOL.1

IPB receives around 200 students each year.
About 10% of them are foreign students,
mostly from Malaysia. To facilitate students
with optimum learning in gross anatomy inthecurrent

situation,

especiallyinprovidethem

severalwiththepractice,

welearning

materials, namely (1) video of

cadaver dissection done by the lecturers, (2)an atlas book for each student, (3) videorecorded

PowerPoint

presentationoflecture explanation with lecturer’s voice, (4)online meeting using zoom for lectures andexams, and for discussion on topics before

Fig. 4aSpecial online lecture was given by Dr. A.A. Macdonald
from the University of Edinburgh. UK

the exams, and (5) student-lecture chatusing WhatsApp. All materials of no. 1 and 3

Students respond positively to the materials

areonlineprovided, reporting that they feel comfortable

Learning

and enjoy the learning of anatomy. The result

that

the

of the student exam was satisfactory. We

students can access them at any time theyrealize, however, that this may not equal yet

want. Atlas books are sent to each student,

to the face-to-face learning and self andincluding

directplacedin

IPBteaching

systemManagement

Systemouruniversity's
called(LMS)internationalsostudents

inpractice.

For

this,

we

have

also

Malaysia. We also provided students with aprepared to be able to carry out enrichment

specialpractices at a possible time later.

lecturegiven

bylecturers

fromabroad.

Fig. 4b
Exams are also given online using zoom meeting

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Pursuing Quality Assurance in the
Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Jezie A. Acorda, Professor and Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine,
University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines

The College of Veterinary Medicine, University of the Philippines Los Baños, (CVM-UPLB) likeother higher education institutions, struggled to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19
pandemic. Among the challenges faced were the transport of students stranded in thecampus to their provinces, provisions for students stranded in the campus, conduct of
remote learning, training in learning management systems, work from home arrangement forfaculty and staff, provision of resources in terms of gadgets and internet connectivity,
redesigning of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) curriculum, creativity in the holdingof laboratory classes remotely and mental and emotional health of both faculty and students.
In the midst of these conditions, CVM-UPLB
braced itself and strove to improve its
quality of education through both internal
assessment and external assessment of its
DVM

program.

Internal

assessment

wasconducted within the college through the
preparation of a Self-Assessment Report andwithinUPLB

Academic
Fig. 1
Remote discussion with AUN-QA Assessors and UPLB
officials.

through

Assessment

evaluation
andAdvisory Committee.

© University of the Philippines Los Baños

Fig.2
CVM-UPLB Complex showing the administration building and two departments.

by

the

Development

MAY 2021

VOL.1

External assessment was pursued through the ASEAN University Network - Quality Assurance(AUN-QA) remote assessment of the DVM program. The remote assessment took place on the
26-30 October 2020 through the concerted efforts of all CVM constituents: the faculty, staff,
students, alumni, and employers. The College was ably supported during the one-year
preparation and one-week conduct of remote assessment by the UPLB Administration
through the Academic Assessment and Development Unit, Information Technology Center,
Office of Public Relations, Department of Human Kinetics, Office of the Vice Chancellor for
Academic Affairs, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University Main Library,
University Health Service and Learning Resource Center.

© University of the Philippines Los Baños

Fig. 3
CVM-UPLB Library. The assessors were impressed by the library facilities, which include a lounging area.

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Veterinary Education for Continuous
Professional Development in theTime of COVID-19 in Myanmar
by Prof. Ye Htut Aung*1 and Prof. Hlaing Myint*2*1 Pro-rector for Academic Affairs, University of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin, Myanmar*2 Department of Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin, Myanmar

The University of Veterinary Science (UVS) is
the only Veterinary Education Establishment(VEE) in Myanmar since 1957. It is solely
responsible for the development of humanresourcesfor

Performanceof

Veterinary

Services, sustainable development of Livestock
Sector and Rural Development in Myanmar.
Students of UVS come from throughout thecountry.

© University of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin

Fig. 1
Myanmar Universities’ Research Conference 2020, UVS

The initiation of the second wave of COVID-19 in Myanmar led tothesuspension ofveterinary undergrad and postgraduate programmes on 24 March 2020. Due to the limitationsin the internet connection and the delay in establishment of electronic learning management
system (eLMS), we have not offered any virtual courses for the undergrad students yet.
However, the education programmes for veterinarians, particularly for the postgraduate
students, were transitioned to virtual platform and talks on several topics were completed
during the COVID-19 period for continuous professional development. In addition to thevirtual talks, the Myanmar Universities’ Research Conference 2020 (MURC 2020) for the
Agriculture, Livestock and Forest sector was held on 25-27 June 2020 in UVS by following the
COVID-19 regulations of the Ministry of Health and Sport.

MAY 2021

The

VOL.1

scientificpostgraduate

paper

readings

students

were

of

the

conducted

virtually on 25-27 August 2020 as publicdefense for their degree theses. As acommemoration

of

World

Antimicrobial

Awareness Week 2020, a whole day virtual
education-talks were performed in UVS on
21

November

2020

for

“enhancing

awareness on antimicrobial resistance inlivestockin

Myanmar”

incollaboration

with the Myanmar Veterinary Association(MVA). The annual virtual conference of
MVA was accomplished in UVS on 19-20
December 2020. The veterinarians and© University of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin

Fig. 2Public Defence of PhD and Master Students, UVS

postgraduate students of UVS throughout
Myanmarparticipated

in

the

above-

mentioned activities of UVS virtually.
Improvement in internet connection and establishment of eLMS are still to be done for thetransitioning of conventional teaching to blended learning system for the undergrad andpostgraduate students in UVS, Myanmar.

© University of Veterinary Medicine, Yezin

Fig. 3
World Antimicrobial Awareness Weeks, UVS

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Veterinary university extended ahelping hand against COVID-19 inPakistan: One Health pproachby Prof. Tahir Yaqub, Assoc. Prof. Muhammad Nawaz, Assoc. Prof. Muhammad Zubair Shabbir,
Lect. Muhammad Asad Ali
Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

At a time when COVID-19 left the world
paralyzed, isolated and reeling in crisis,
the University of Veterinary and Animal
Sciences (UVAS) in Lahore extended ahelping

hand

in

the

fight

againstCOVID-19 in Pakistan.
UVAS is working in close collaboration
with the Punjab Health Department invarious ventures ranging from providing
technical services and capacity building,
to running COVID-19 diagnostics anddetermining

sewagewater-based

epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2.

© University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore

Fig. 1COVID-19 Testing Team at BSL-3 Laboratory for Emerging
Pathogens, UVASUVAS primarily deals with issues and problems in the veterinary sector. However, in thecurrent situation where COVID-19 has changed our concept of boundaries, the ViceChancellor, Prof Dr Nasim Ahmad, took an initiative early in the pandemic under the One
Health approach, and fast-tracked the development of a laboratory for diagnosis of COVID19 in human samples. The resulting “Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory for Emerging Pathogens”
was evaluated and approved for conducting diagnostic tests of COVID-19 by Punjab
Healthcare Commission. Since April 2020, this laboratory has conducted more than 140,000
PCR based COVID-19 diagnostic tests on human samples.
It is noteworthy that Prof Dr Tahir Yaqub, Director at the Institute of Microbiology at UVAS,
along with other faculty members and post-graduate students at the institute, undertook
this task as volunteers. They continue to contribute to the best of their abilities.

MAY 2021

VOL.1

In

collaboration

Department
optimizedinwith
Punjab,SARS-CoV-2

quantification

theprotocols

HealthUVAS

also

detection

and

from

sewagewater at different localities to develop a“Smart Surveillance Strategy for Smart
Lockdown”. Quantification of the SARSCoV-2 genome from sewage water and its
association© University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore

Fig. 2COVID-19 Testing Team at Institute of Microbiology, UVAS

with

the

actualCOVID-19burden in the human population was
useful in execution and implementationofthe“smartlockdown”

strategyinPakistan.
This team is mapping the sewage water based epidemiology of COVID-19 in Lahore, a second
largest city of Pakistan, and on weekly/fortnightly basis. The team has been successful inearly identification of crests and troughs in the COVID-19 waves in Lahore, Pakistan. Since
second week of March, 2021, Pakistan is experiencing third wave of COVID-19, which was
identified and communicated to the authorities by this team. Now the team has expanded its
work to other cities of Punjab as well i.e Gujranwala. Their approach is very useful in
implementing broader and specific COVID-19 control strategies in developing and underdeveloped countries where COVID-19 testing capacity is still not enough.
This team is also monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies and COVID-19 in pet andcaptive animals in Lahore, Pakistan but has not identified any COVID-19 case or SARS CoV-2
antibodies in captive or pet animals.
This provides an update on an article originally posted on OIE Regional Representation for Asia andPacific (OIE RRAP) website page featuring COVID-19 experiences of member countries. The page also
provides links to various OIE Resources on COVID-19. Please visit the page by URL below.
https://rr-asia.oie.int/en/projects/covid-19-in-asia-and-the-pacific/

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Innovation of Veterinary Education
during COVID-19 Pandemic
in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Universitas Brawijaya, Malang,Indonesia
by Dyah Ayu Oktavianie Ardhiana Pratama, Fajar Shodiq Permata, Herlina Pratiwi, Analis
Wisnu Wardhana, Indah Amalia Amri, Nofan Rickyawan
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Puncak Dieng Eksklusif, Kalisongo,
Dau, Malang, East Java, Indonesia, 65151
Contact: pskh_ub@ub.ac.id

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Universitas Brawijaya(FVM UB) is located in Malang city. Malang city is oneof the red zones of Covid-19 in Indonesia because thedeath rate due to Covid-19 in Malang is higher (8.1%)
than the national rate (4.7%). Therefore the activities
of veterinary education have to be conducted virtually
in FVM UB. FVM UB responded quickly to transit to
the virtual platform through a close collaboration of
IT and academic units. FVM UB used Virtual Learning
Media which is a platform from Universitas Brawijaya(VLM UB) to share unsynchronized materials (video,
PowerPoint, etc).

FVM UB subscribed to five Zoom

premium accounts to facilitate virtual classes forteaching.
In 2020, FVM UB invited 9 (nine) professors from
University Partners in overseas to enrich education
for students (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
Example of Visiting Professor by Prof. Junpei
Kimura from Seoul National University, South
Korea coordinated by FVM UB. He gave alecture to both undergraduate students andstudents of the DVM program

MAY 2021

VOL.1

FVM UB also conducted Virtual Student Exchange
Program which was participated by students fromFaculties of Veterinary Medicine in Vietnam andthePhilippines (Fig. 2). The lecturers of each course madevideosonrelatedpractical

subjects,

both

for

undergraduate and professional DVM programs, forexample video of practical session such as Necropsy
technique, microbiological identification

technique,etc. Students of DVM programs also created a video
about the practical sessions©asandT h eaUcompulsoryn i v e r s i t y o f T o k ytaskothe lecturer assessed students' competencies basedon the video. The main competency evaluated throughsuch means was

how students performed a physicalexamination on a patients. The good things about
Virtual Platform were the flexibility of teaching time,the easiness of sharing the lecture materials and thepossibility to meet with various Visiting Professor
from overseas through online media. However, thedigital assessment was challenging to guarantee thatthestudents

outcomes.

gainedevery

subject's

learning

Fig. 2
Information flyer of Virtual Exchange Students
which was organized by FVM UB and joined by
students of FVM UB Indonesia, Faculty of
Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Nong
Lam University, Vietnam and College of
Veterinary Medicine, Tarlac Agricultural
University, Philippines.

As a contribution to the prevention of Covid-19, FVM UB also take a role through community
service activities in the form of giving masks, hand sanitizers and water barrel to the citizens
around the Campus location (Fig 3). Another contribution of FVM UB is providing public
education about healthy lifestyles for the prevention of Covid-19 and education about how tohandle pet animals during the Covid-19 pandemic through social media.

© Universitas Brawijaya

Fig. 3
Community outreach in the Kalisongo area by FVM UB as a social responsibility to prevent COVID-19 spreading

MAY 2021

VOL.1

OIE Veterinary Education Twinning
Project between Japan andCambodia in the time of COVID-19
by Assoc. Prof. Kozue Miura & Prof. Masayoshi Kuwahara*, the University of Tokyo, Japan, and
Dr. Keo Sath, Vice-Dean & Prof. Kang Kroesna, Dean, Royal Univrsity of Agriculture, Cambodia*Contact: akuwam@g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

A 2-year OIE Veterinary Education Twinning project

between the University of Tokyo(UTokyo), Japan and the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), Cambodia began in
December 2018. The objectives were 1) Strengthening of curriculum implementation andcurriculum enrichment including the intensive lectures at RUA, 2) Strengthening ofacademic and technical staff capacity at RUA (by enhancing the subject knowledge anddidactic skills of teaching staff), and 3) Establishment of video conference and distancelearning systems.

In order for us to enhance the knowledge and didactic skills of RUA teaching staff(objective 2), we invited all the RUA teaching staff in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to
UTokyo as part of the twinning project and the last group of RUA staff members went backto Cambodia on 1st February, 2020, the day after the declaration of COVID-19 as a Public
Health Emergency of International Concern by WHO. Because UTokyo and RUA had nochoice but to concentrate on our own education systems under the COVID-19, the project
was stopped for about 6 months. Although initially, our project was tocomplete in

September 2020, OIE accepted that the project to be extended until September 2021.
Fortunately for the project, the remaining
objectives

areprovidinglecturesandthedistance

learning

intensive

establishment
systems,neitherofofwhich require any face-to-face activity.
Now,

UTokyoteam

hasrestarted

toprovide intensive lectures using an online
platform. In addition, we prepared some
virtual slides for histology and pathology
lectures and provided them to RUA. The
virtual slides are very useful for lecturesand practice courses because students
are

able

to

practice

histology

pathology without microscopes.

andFig. 1
Zoom lecture of histology and pathology using virtual slides

MAY 2021

VOL.1

Now, UTokyo is trying to makevirtualrealities

surgical(VR)materialsofoperations for teaching at UTokyo. In the
future, we will make the VRs of diagnosisof livestock animals and more and explore
how they can be used/ adapted for thetwinning project. In conclusion, we learned
that

we

could

adapt

and

developour

information technology literacy to provide
veterinary education under COVID-19. We© The University of Tokyo

Fig. 2
Recording a surgical operation for Virtual Reality materials

hope that together, we can continue toadvanceveterinary

education

institutions even under

the

in

our

COVID-19

situation.

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FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
Please contact us via AAVS website contact form or secretary@aavs.jpn.org