Tropical Veterinary Medicine Camp in Kenya

Between 1 and 10 July 2026, our team took part as key resource people in the first Vet Akademos Africa camp on tropical veterinary medicine, organised in northern Kenya.

The programme brought Romanian veterinarians into a very different professional setting, combining veterinary medicine, field epidemiology, parasitology, animal health and direct interaction with pastoralist communities. Activities were carried out in remote areas of northern Kenya, where livestock and dogs remain central to local livelihoods and where veterinary practice is closely connected to ecology, mobility and traditional ways of life.

Participants were exposed to practical aspects of tropical veterinary medicine, including field examination of animals, recognition of parasitic and vector-borne diseases, sampling techniques, preventive medicine and discussions on zoonotic risks. Particular attention was given to the challenges of delivering veterinary care in areas with limited infrastructure and long distances between communities.

The programme also integrated wildlife and ecosystem perspectives, allowing participants to better understand the links between domestic animals, wildlife, vectors and human communities within a One Health framework.

Beyond the medical component, the camp offered direct contact with the Samburu and neighbouring pastoralist communities, creating an opportunity to understand how culture, environment and animal husbandry shape disease risk and veterinary decision-making.

For our team, the Kenya programme represented another step in developing immersive field-based veterinary education, where clinical knowledge is combined with epidemiology, conservation, cultural context and real-world problem solving.