The Asia Pacific Consortium of Veterinary Epidemiology (APCOVE) was established in 2020 to build veterinary epidemiology capacity across the Asia Pacific region. Led by the University of Sydney, APCOVE brings together over 50 animal health experts from all veterinary schools in Australia and New Zealand, and eight partner countries: Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
Building on the partnerships developed in its first phase, APCOVE II aims to further enhance veterinary epidemiology and One Health capacities across the region to prevent, detect, and respond to disease outbreaks that impact human health, animal health, and farmer livelihoods. APCOVE addresses critical gaps that are essential for the effective management of infectious diseases and work at the animal-human-environmental interface.
Australia’s contribution to APCOVE II includes hands-on veterinary epidemiology training for frontline workers in Laos, Cambodia, PNG, and Timor-Leste, as well as intermediate training in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Additionally, the initiative supports One Health training in all eight partner countries and provides teacher and mentor development for epidemiology educators. These efforts strengthen the region’s ability to promptly detect and effectively respond to infectious disease emergencies, reducing the risk of disease incursion into Australia
