Bring Home the Blue, Not the Flu! Preventing Disease in Animals and People Free Online Courses for Youth in Animal Agriculture— Now available in Spanish!

August 3, 2022 — 

These interactive, online courses that teach youth about zoonotic diseases, "Bring Home the Blue, Not the Flu! Preventing Disease in Animals and People", created by the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, are now available in Spanish.

Targeted at youth aged 6-18 years, and with a collection of associated hands-on activities are meant to educate youth on transmission and prevention of zoonotic diseases and to encourage healthy and safe involvement between humans and animals. The recent and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic highlights the importance of these educational goals as the impact of emerging infectious diseases on human health, daily living, the economy, and more were made particularly evident over the past 2 years.

Exposure to animals provides numerous opportunities for personal growth in youth of all ages by assisting in education, entertainment, health benefits and character development. While animals have an overall positive impact on youth and the community, there are many animal diseases that can be spread between people and animals, especially when people have close contact with animals. Several animal related disease outbreaks, such as variant influenza A virus of swine (H3N2v) and enteric disease outbreaks caused by pathogens such as E. coli, have been associated with fairs and animal exhibits in recent years. In many instances, these events resulted in severe illness in youth. Animal project events can also present disease transmission risks to animals due to the comingling of various animals, animal species and humans from different locations.

Understanding disease risks and preventive measures is critical to reduce the occurrence of zoonotic diseases among youth associated with animal agriculture. Awareness of these risks can help youth to understand the importance of disease prevention for themselves, their animals, and the public. Moreover, they in turn can educate their peers and the public around them on these important matters to facilitate the spread of accurate disease transmission prevention information and strategies. Furthermore, teachers, volunteer leaders, and parents should understand the same disease risks to further reinforce measures needed to prevent zoonotic disease transmission.

The web-based course includes lessons, case studies, and supplemental materials such as guides for hands-on activities and educational workshops. It is self-paced and accessible online at any time for participants. New this year, these lessons, including associated supplementary materials, hands-on activity guides, and teacher materials have been translated into Spanish. In addition, materials from the Bring Home the Blue, Not the Flu! courses have also been adapted onto additional platforms, such as Google Classroom, Seesaw, and Teachers Pay Teachers to facilitate ease of use in various classroom settings. The site contains links to additional free resources on these platforms including educational content, classroom activities, assignments and more!

To learn more and to take or share the course in Spanish, visit https://bluenotflu.org/es.

To learn more and to take or share the course in English, visit https://bluenotflu.org/.