Primary animal health care (PAHC) is the good management practices the livestock handler must undertake daily and continuously to maintain health and production. The livestock handler is the first line of defence against disease and production loss as they work with the animals every day. Only they are there to observe and report the first signs of disease and action treatment or prevention timeously.
Opportunities in primary animal health care
• Livestock handlers work closely with their animals and can observe them regularly.
• Through structured observation for the first signs of disease, the stock handler can successfully identify, report and treat/prevent the most common diseases causing death and loss of production.
• An understanding of the factors that maintain the health and productivity of animals can be established cost- effectively at all levels of livestock production.
• The increasing demand for livestock products can be profitably supplied.