Animal Health Assistant Level 2

Who it is for. People who have finished Animal Health Assistant (Level 1), or who can show the same skills. National Proficiency II covers varied work, mostly routine, under limited supervision.

Bridge from Level 1: what you already know

Level 1 gave you the habits. Level 2 gives you the systems: a record book for the whole herd, a written biosecurity routine, a plan for vaccination day, a report you can send to a veterinary officer, and an understanding of why medicines must be used carefully. It also shows you how to earn a living lawfully.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical, following CTVET's Oil Palm programme split of about 30% school and 70% workplace. Every unit has a practical task, homework, and three "Check yourself" questions. Units with sums have an exercise with answers.

Housing, feed and flock management are not repeated here. For house design and sheep management see the sheep-rearing course; for layers see the layer poultry course; for rations see Animal Feed Formulation. This book is about health.

Competency standard

Range. Goats and sheep (scoring); goats, sheep, cattle, pigs and poultry (records). Evidence. Record book; scoring practical; oral questions; monthly summary.

Why records come first

The African Union and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) toolkit says a community animal health worker "keeps a register", reports regularly and fills in vaccination forms monthly. Good records help you spot a slow change (an animal getting thin) that you would miss by eye. They also give the vet the facts on the first phone call.

The eight records

These are suggested records. Design your own pages in an exercise book (they are teaching tools, not official forms).

(The record list is a teaching design built on the toolkit's register idea.) Records 1 to 5 and 7 you can start today. Record 6 only has entries when a vet prescribes something. The medicine register is covered in Unit 5.

Body condition scoring (BCS)

Body condition scoring means feeling the fat and muscle cover over the bones. You cannot score by eye, because wool and hair hide the animal. Goats are scored from 1.0 to 5.0 in half-points.

Where you feel. The loin (the bones along the back behind the last rib), the sternum (the breast bone between the front legs), and the ribs. Goats carry little fat over the loin, so check the sternum and ribs as well.

For sheep (also 1 to 5): at score 1 the spine bones are prominent and sharp and fingers pass easily under the ends of the bones; at 3 they are smooth and rounded and you need firm pressure; at 5 there is a depression along the spine and the ends cannot be felt.

What score is healthy? Sources differ. A common healthy range for goats is about 2.5 to 4.0; one university sheet gives 2.0 to 3.5 for sheep and goats; a score of 1.0 to 2.0, or 4.5 or more around kidding, can mean problems such as pregnancy toxaemia. So do not choose your own "target". Write the score down and ask the vet or extension officer what score range they want for your farm. A falling score over two months is a sign to report.

Taking temperature and recording it (from Level 1)

Reference ranges for rectal temperature in degrees Celsius, adult animals: sheep 38.3 to 39.9; goat 38.5 to 39.7; pig 38.7 to 39.8; dairy cow 38.0 to 39.3. An older FAO manual gives single average values: cattle 38.5, sheep 39.0, goat 39.5, pig 39.0, chicken 42.0, and says readings may be 1 °C above or below. Young animals usually run about 1 °C higher than adults. An animal 1 °C or more above its usual reading, or above the top of the range, is a sign to tell the vet about. A fever is not a diagnosis.

The monthly summary: three formulas

• Mean body condition = sum of all scores ÷ number of animals scored.
• Mortality (%) = deaths ÷ animals at risk × 100. "At risk" means the animals that could have died in that period.
• Average daily gain (g/day) = (end weight − start weight) ÷ days × 1,000. (General formula; the weights below are examples.)

Worked example (all numbers are example). A doe herd of 20 was scored: 2.0 (2 does), 2.5 (4), 3.0 (7), 3.5 (5), 4.0 (2). Sum = 2×2.0 + 4×2.5 + 7×3.0 + 5×3.5 + 2×4.0 = 4 + 10 + 21 + 17.5 + 8 = 60.5. Mean = 60.5 ÷ 20 = 3.03. Two does (10%) scored below 2.5, so the report to the vet lists those two by name.

Check yourself

1. Why must body condition be scored by feel and not by eye?
2. A kid's temperature is 1.2 °C above its usual reading. Is this a diagnosis?
3. Work out mortality: 2 deaths among 25 animals.

Competency standard

Range. One small farm with at least two species. Evidence. Written programme; audit sheet; quarantine log; oral questions.

What a biosecurity programme is

Biosecurity means the habits that keep disease out of a farm and stop it spreading inside. Level 1 showed single habits (cleaning, quarantine). A programme writes them all down in one place, so every worker does the same thing, and so you can check it.

Every programme has five parts:

1. Keep disease out: control who and what enters (animals, people, vehicles, feed, equipment).
2. Stop spread inside: separate sick animals, separate species and ages, one set of boots per pen.
3. Clean and disinfect on a fixed routine.
4. Watch: daily checks and records.
5. Act: a written plan for what to do when an animal is sick or dies suddenly.

The first and most important rule

If many animals die suddenly or an animal shows signs from Unit 4, stop all movement and call the vet (see Unit 4). Biosecurity cannot treat an outbreak. It only slows it.

Cleaning and disinfection in the right order

Remove dung and bedding; wash with soap and water; let it dry; then disinfect. Disinfectants do not work well on dirty surfaces, so do not skip the washing. Specific product strengths for Ghana are not verified here: use only an FDA-registered disinfectant, follow its label, and ask the vet. The AU-IBAR toolkit names a 1 percent caustic soda solution for vehicles, shoes, clothes and equipment during an African swine fever response; caustic soda burns skin and eyes, so wear gloves and goggles, follow the label, never use it near animals, and use it only when the vet says.

The farm biosecurity audit

Walk the farm with a checklist. Give 1 point for each Yes. Add them up.

Twelve items, so 12 out of 12 is full marks. Under 8 means urgent work. Always give the farmer three fixes in order of importance, with a date. (The scoring method is a teaching design, not an official audit.)

Quarantine

Keep every new arrival apart from the herd for at least 30 days. Watch daily and take the temperature and record it. Do the same for any animal that returns from a market or show. For poultry, leave a house empty for at least 15 days between batches.

Date maths (example): a goat arrives on 3 November. Day 30 is 3 December. A broiler house is emptied on 20 November; the next batch goes in no earlier than 5 December. (Dates checked by script.)

Footbaths

Footbaths at entrances are used for poultry houses and for foot rot control. Extension sources give a 10 percent zinc sulphate or copper sulphate solution, with soak times of 5 to 30 minutes and weekly use for four weeks, and the sources differ. Because the sources differ, and these are chemicals, ask the vet which product and strength. Do not mix your own.

What you can do with certainty: 10 percent means 100 g of solid in each litre of water (10 g in 100 mL), so a 20-litre tray needs 20 × 100 = 2,000 g = 2 kg if the vet confirms 10 percent (arithmetic only). Wear gloves and goggles, keep children and animals away from the powder, change the bath when it is dirty, and keep the used liquid away from streams and wells. Copper is toxic to sheep (general knowledge, not verified in this book's sources); this is another reason to ask the vet.

Species routines

Goats and sheep.

• Check hooves regularly and trim as the vet or an experienced handler shows you. Do not cut into the sole or the wall, and disinfect shears between animals. Foot rot signs: lameness, a bad smell, the hoof coming away from the tissue. Keep ground dry and well drained, quarantine new animals for 30 days, and buy from clean flocks.
• Worm control through hygiene and pasture rest (Unit 5).
• Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is prevented by vaccination, which the vet or Veterinary Services organises (Unit 3).

Cattle.

• For mastitis (udder infection): clean dry bedding; wash and dry teats before milking; use a teat dip after each milking; strip the first milk onto a cup or the floor, not onto your hands; wash hands; milk infected animals last; discard abnormal milk and do not give it to people or pigs without vet advice. Treatment is the vet's job.
• Wear gloves at calving and abortions (brucellosis risk, Unit 4). Do not drink raw milk; boil it.

Pigs.

• African swine fever (ASF) has no vaccine and no treatment, so biosecurity is the only defence. Keep pigs enclosed, control visitors and vehicles, disinfect boots, keep a visitor log, and report sudden death of many pigs at once.
• A basic kit for the gate: working boots, a hand sprayer, brushes, detergent, a visitor log and disinfectant.

Poultry.

• Newcastle disease is prevented by vaccination and footbaths; keep an empty house 15 days between batches.
• Keep new birds apart; keep feed and water clean; remove dead birds at once and wash hands.
• For layer housing and flock management see the layer poultry course.

The sick-animal plan (write this on the wall)

1. Separate the animal at once into the isolation pen.
2. Wash hands; use the isolation pen's own boots and tools; leave this pen last in the daily round.
3. Record signs, temperature and the time in the health log.
4. Give water and shade. Do not give any medicine.
5. If the signs match Unit 4, or several animals are sick, do not move any animal or sell any meat, and call the vet at once.
6. After it recovers or dies, clean and disinfect the pen as above.

Check yourself

1. How many days should a new animal stay in quarantine?
2. Why do we wash dung off a surface before disinfecting it?
3. What is the only protection against ASF in pigs?

Competency standard

Range. A mock vaccination day with a cooperating farmer; empty vials only. Evidence. Cool-box packing; restraint practical; filled forms; oral questions.

Why vaccination matters here

• Fewer than 20 percent of farmers vaccinate regularly and herd losses are about 10 percent a year, and farmers say they are willing to pay for vaccination.
• A data study covering 2005 to 2013 found peste des petits ruminants (PPR) outbreaks in all ten regions, and the Western Region had the highest number of outbreaks and the lowest number vaccinated (old data).
• PPR vaccine is effective and there is no carrier state; the target is a PPR-free Ghana by 2030.
• Rabies: dogs and cats need a yearly vaccine. A 2026 national campaign aimed at 25,000 dogs and cats was free during September 2026, then at a "prescribed fee" (the amount was not stated). A district officer in Bongo reported about GH¢30 for a dog at the Veterinary Services Department "at a reduced cost" (6 October 2026).
• Five rabies deaths were reported in the Western and Western North regions in August 2026.

The calendar. An official Ghana VSD vaccination calendar for the Western Region was not found (not verified). Do not copy a schedule from a website. Ask the veterinary officer for the current plan and write it into the farm's year calendar (Unit 6).

The cold chain

"Cold chain" means keeping vaccine at the right temperature from the fridge to the animal. These are general rules from vaccine-storage guides; the label always has the last word.

• Most livestock vaccines are stored at 2 to 8 °C. Freezing can ruin inactivated vaccines. Heat damages live vaccines.
• Vaccine in a bag reaches the air temperature in about 20 minutes, so the journey is the weak point.
• Pack a cool box: vials in the middle, ice packs around them, and the packs not touching the vials.
• Check the label and expiry date first. First expired, first out.
• Keep a thermometer (a min-max type if you can) in the cool box. Have a back-up plan for fridge failure.
• The Newcastle disease I-2 vaccine is "thermotolerant", but cool transport is still needed.
• Ghana-specific cold-chain rules were not found (not verified). The vet or the VSD cold room decides.

Before the day

1. Visit the farmers and list the animals. Name, species, how many, ear tag or colour. Tell farmers the date, the place and what to bring (a rope, a bucket of water, a record book).
2. Ask who is sick, pregnant or very young. Tell the vet before the line starts: the vet decides if they are vaccinated.
3. Choose a place. Shaded, with a solid-sided pen or crush, a flat floor, and one way in and one way out. Keep children and dogs away.
4. Plan the flow: waiting pen, restraint place, vaccination place, exit pen. Animals never go back into the waiting pen after they are done.
5. Gather: record sheets, a pen, a marker or ear-tag paint, buckets, soap and water, gloves, a first-aid kit, and a rubbish bag. The vet brings a sharps box and everything used for giving the vaccine.

Restraint on the day

Always work with a helper, in a pen with a solid wall, wearing boots and gloves; keep children away; never kneel or stand behind a cow. Move animals calmly and quietly; a stressed animal takes 20 to 30 minutes to calm down, and bad handling makes an animal's flight zone larger.

From the AU-IBAR toolkit's restraint pages:

• Goats and sheep: hold the head; place the animal against a wall or between your legs; tie with a simple rope.
• Pigs: use a rope or lasso; small piglets can be held without a rope.
• Poultry: hold under the body or by the legs; ducks by the front of the neck and under the body.

Goats are escape-prone and climb; sheep follow the flock and are easier to move as a group but harder to restrain alone; control the head first. Ask a trained handler for boars, sows with piglets and cattle with calves; these animals are dangerous, and this book has no verified method for them (not verified).

Records on the day

The vet fills in the official form. You keep a copy for the farmer. For each animal or group write:

Put the same facts in the farm's vaccination record (Unit 1). Write down any animal that was not vaccinated, and why, so the farmer can book it for next time. Watch the animals for the rest of the day, and report to the vet any animal that looks unwell afterwards. Do not give medicines.

After the day

Wash hands and boots; clean the pen. Count: animals on the list, animals vaccinated, animals missed. Work out the coverage and the cost.

Coverage (%) = animals vaccinated ÷ animals on the list × 100. Worked example (example numbers): 162 vaccinated out of 180 listed is 162 ÷ 180 × 100 = 90%.

Vials. If a vial holds 50 doses (example; read the label) and 180 animals are listed, 180 ÷ 50 = 3.6, so the officer needs 4 vials. Opened-vial rules are on the label.

Cost. One study reported a "prevailing market price" of about GH¢5 per sheep or goat for PPR vaccination (the date was not shown in the summary I could read). Farmers in the same study said they would pay about GH¢7.02 per sheep and GH¢6.66 per goat. Example: 180 animals × GH¢5 = GH¢900; at GH¢7.02, 180 × 7.02 = GH¢1,263.60. These are study figures, not today's price: ask the officer.

Check yourself

1. Who gives the vaccine on vaccination day?
2. Where do the vials go in the cool box, and what must not touch them?
3. Who decides whether a vaccine that got too warm may still be used?

Competency standard

Range. PPR, Newcastle disease, African swine fever, anthrax, rabies, trypanosomiasis, brucellosis; mastitis and foot rot as common non-notifiable problems. Evidence. Signs sheet; report; oral questions.

The notifiable disease list

Ask Veterinary Services for the notifiable list. Ghana's current official list of notifiable animal diseases was not found (not verified). A 2017 review said the list in the Diseases of Animals Act "is outdated and employs archaic terminology". PPR and ASF are reportable to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Until you hold the list, treat any sudden death of several animals, any bleeding from body openings, and any disease with a human risk as something to report at once.

Priority disease sheets

For each: signs to watch, what you do, what the vet does.

1. PPR (sheep and goat plague).

• Signs: sudden high fever, severe depression, discharge from eyes, nose and mouth (clear, then pus), severe diarrhoea sometimes with blood, breathing difficulty and cough, mouth sores, cracked dry nostrils, abortion, death in 5 to 10 days. Time from infection to signs is 3 to 6 days. There is no specific treatment.
• What you do: separate sick animals; wash hands and boots after; do not move or sell animals; record signs; call the veterinary officer. The toolkit's worker role includes inspecting all animals twice a day for 7 days and reporting.
• What the vet does: confirms, orders movement control, vaccinates, and directs disposal of dead animals and abortion material.
• Deaths: up to 90 percent of sick animals in some outbreaks, more commonly about 20 percent in some reports.

2. Newcastle disease (poultry).

• Signs: depression, loss of appetite, greenish diarrhoea, breathing problems, tremors and paralysis, swollen comb and wattles, a fall in laying, and sudden high deaths; time from infection to signs is 2 to 15 days; no specific treatment.
• What you do: isolate sick birds; wash hands; do not move birds; call; keep clean footbaths at the house door.
• Prevention: vaccination and footbaths; keep the house empty 15 days between batches. Do not confuse it with avian influenza. Estimates say 30 to 80 percent of village chickens die every year in developing countries (older figure).

3. African swine fever (ASF).

• Signs: bleeding from body openings, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea, red and blue-purple skin on the belly and ears, high fever for 3 to 4 days, sudden deaths. Time from infection to signs is 5 to 15 days. It spreads to nearly every pig in contact. There is no treatment or vaccine, and the virus survives months in carcasses.
• What you do: report at once; do not sell or move pigs; no visitors or vehicles; no pigs to other farms. Wash boots and hands.
• What the vet does: confirms by laboratory, orders quarantine and disposal. (The toolkit mentions a 20 km quarantine for 40 days: a decision for the vet and the Directorate, not for you.)
• Local relevance: in August 2025 the Accra laboratory confirmed ASF at Sogakope and more than 200 pigs died.

4. Anthrax (awareness only; do NOT handle).

• Signs: sudden death of a previously healthy animal, sometimes with bleeding from the nose, mouth or anus.
• What you do: do not cut open or skin the animal; do not eat or sell the meat; keep people and dogs away; call the district or regional Veterinary office at once. Disposal is directed by the Veterinary Services.
• People: skin anthrax is a painless sore that becomes a blister and then a black scab, usually after touching meat, hide, bone or wool of an animal that died of anthrax. See a doctor.
• Local facts: an outbreak in the Upper East in 2023 killed 125 animals and one person, and 121,961 animals were vaccinated in the first round. In the Western Region, carcasses from an anthrax outbreak were buried at the Tarkwa Veterinary Investigation Sheep Farm (most recently May 2024), and in July 2026 the Veterinary Services office warned that disturbing the burial sites could be catastrophic.

5. Rabies (any mammal; people can die).

• Signs in animals: a change in behaviour (aggression or unusual calm), drooling, paralysis. Rabies is almost always fatal once signs appear, but it is preventable by vaccination.
• What you do: do not touch the animal or its saliva; keep people away; anyone bitten or scratched goes to the nearest health facility at once, and the animal is reported to the nearest veterinary centre.

6. Trypanosomiasis (nagana).

• Signs: swollen lymph nodes, loss of appetite, depression, pale gums and eyelids, intermittent fever, watery eyes, hair loss at the tail tip, falling milk, wasting. It is spread by tsetse and other biting flies.
• What you do: record the signs and the animals' condition scores; advise the farmer to avoid fly-heavy areas; report. The vet alone chooses any drug.
• Local relevance: a 2024 survey in two forest-zone districts found tsetse flies, and trypanosomes in about 46 percent of the pigs sampled and none in the cattle sampled. Western Region data was not found.

7. Brucellosis (people and animals).

• Signs in animals: abortions, retained afterbirth, swollen joints or testicles. In people: recurring fever, back and joint pain.
• What you do: wear gloves at births and abortions; do not drink raw milk; keep cows near calving apart; bury or burn the afterbirth only as the vet directs.
• Local relevance: a study in North Tongu, Volta, found 10.1 percent of cattle farmers and 22.9 percent of cattle sampled were positive by a rapid test.

8. Common problems that are not usually reported as outbreaks. Mastitis (hot, swollen or hard udder quarter; changed milk): hygiene as in Unit 2, then the vet. Foot rot (lameness, smell): Unit 2, then the vet. Parasite signs (weight loss, pale eyelids, diarrhoea): Unit 5.

The six-point report

Use this "SBAR for animals" format (a teaching tool, not an official form). Write it first, then phone or send it.

Who to report to

The reporting line, as described in 2017, runs from the Chief Veterinary Officer in Accra, to Regional Veterinary Officers, to District Veterinary Officers, to veterinary para-professionals. Start with the district MoFA or Veterinary office, or the Regional Veterinary Services office in Takoradi or Sekondi. In July 2026 the Western and Western North Regional Director was named as Dr Simon Gbene. The office's address and phone number were not found: the Hub should ask for them and write them on every farm wall. A Takoradi Veterinary Laboratory exists; its services and prices were not verified. No farmer disease hotline was found. For human health risks, report to the nearest health facility.

The Veterinary Services have also been building digital reporting: an electronic platform linking district, regional and head offices, and the FAO tool EMA-i+, officially launched in Accra in October 2025, with the Minister reporting more than 50 community animal health workers trained in the Upper East; the article does not say how farmers themselves report. Do not report through an app unless the Veterinary Services have asked you to.

Reading the numbers in an outbreak

Share showing signs (%) = animals sick or dead ÷ animals in the group × 100. Deaths (%) = dead ÷ group × 100. Worked example (example): 40 pigs, 20 sick, 12 dead in 3 days. Showing signs = 32 (20 + 12), 32 ÷ 40 = 80%. Deaths = 12 ÷ 40 = 30%. Of those affected, 12 ÷ 32 = 37.5% died. A report with these numbers tells the vet the problem is serious before they leave their office.

Check yourself

1. What should you never do when a cow dies suddenly with bleeding from the nose?
2. Why do you describe "signs" instead of naming the disease?
3. Name the six parts of the report in order.

Competency standard

Range. Goats, sheep, cattle, pigs and poultry; records and awareness only. Evidence. Medicine register page; oral questions; hygiene plan.

Parasites: what you can do

Internal worms, ticks, lice and mange live on or in animals and cause weight loss, pale eyelids, diarrhoea and a rough coat. Your tools are the ones you already have.

Do not worm everyone on a calendar. Resistance to dewormers is real. One method used in sheep and goats is targeted treatment: judge anaemia from the colour of the lower eyelid against a colour chart, and treat only the pale animals, on a vet's advice. In Botswana smallholders of varied literacy adopted the method, but uptake was limited: after six months 52 percent monitored their animals and 26 percent applied the treatment rule. In goat farmer field schools in Malawi the "Five Point Check" (eye, nose, jaw, back, tail) is used.

What you do. Record eyelid colour, the five points, the body condition score and droppings in the health log each month. Compare with last month. Report pale or thin animals to the vet and ask for a plan. You do not treat them. Ask the vet whether a faecal egg count at the Takoradi Veterinary Laboratory is possible: it exists, but its services and prices were not verified. Ticks and tick-borne disease were not researched for this book: ask the vet.

Worked example (example numbers): a goat herd of 30 is checked. Six animals have pale eyelids. Treating only those 6 means treating 6 ÷ 30 = 20% of the herd, so 24 animals (80%) are not given a medicine they do not need. Fewer doses means less resistance and less cost. Only the vet decides what the six receive.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

When antibiotics are over-used or misused, germs learn to survive them. Then the medicine stops working when an animal or a person really needs it. The FAO says misuse and over-use raise resistant organisms, that antimicrobials should be used only when really necessary, and that good hygiene, biosecurity and immunity reduce the need. That is the case for everything in Units 1 and 2.

Withdrawal periods

A withdrawal period is the minimum time between the last dose of a medicine and using the animal's meat, milk or eggs. It makes sure the residue stays under the maximum safe level. The time differs by medicine, species and food. Foreign examples show the range: in the UK the minimum for off-label use is 7 days for milk and 28 days for meat; US milk examples are 72 hours for penicillin and 60 hours for amoxicillin; meat withdrawals run from 0 to 60 days. Those numbers are not Ghana rules. Never use them. The label and the vet set the time.

How to keep track:

1. When the vet prescribes anything, ask: "What is the withdrawal period for milk, meat and eggs?" Write it down.
2. Enter the date of the last dose and work out the earliest safe date: last dose date + the days on the label. Ask the vet how the label counts the days.
3. Mark the animal (ear tag, paint or a pen sign) and the register: do not sell, slaughter or milk for the table before that date.
4. Check the register before every sale, slaughter and collection of milk.

Worked example (example label: milk 5 days, meat 14 days): last dose on 12 October. Milk: 12 October + 5 days = 17 October. Meat: 12 October + 14 days = 26 October. (Dates checked by script.)

Buying and storing medicines safely

• Only registered products may be sold. The FDA registers veterinary medicines (a registration guideline took effect on 8 January 2024), and the VSD controls vaccines.
• A 2017 review found veterinary drugs "sold all over the country in unauthorized or poorly monitored locations by unregistered individuals". So: the vet prescribes; buy only from a registered outlet, check the FDA registration number and the expiry date, keep the receipt, and never buy loose, unlabelled or unsealed products.
• Store as the label says. Keep medicine locked, away from feed, children and heat. Keep vaccines cold as in Unit 3.

The medicine register (record 6)

Check yourself

1. Who chooses the medicine, the dose and the time to give it?
2. What does a withdrawal period protect?
3. Why is it wrong to use leftover antibiotics?

Competency standard

Range. One farmer group of at least five farms. Evidence. Calendar; group summary; role play; oral questions.

Who does what

The Veterinary Services Directorate says it needs private-sector support to reach all farmers. That is your opening, as long as you stay within your lane.

Finding a vet. A private vet must have four years of experience under a senior vet before private practice, so private vets may be few near Akwidaa. Ask the regional office for a named contact for the Hub. The Armed Forces Veterinary Clinic at the Takoradi air base opened in September 2023, serving the military, and a summary said civilians too; fees and access are not verified.

Calling the vet

Preparing for a visit

A 12-month health calendar

A health calendar puts the year's routine jobs on one page. The vaccination and treatment dates are the vet's, not yours. Leave them blank until the officer gives them.

Running a farmer group health day

1. Agree a date with the group leader and invite the veterinary or MoFA officer.
2. Prepare a simple topic (one theme: hand washing, footbaths, records, or the call card).
3. Show a demonstration (a body condition score, a temperature, a footbath). Let farmers try.
4. Hand out or fill in record books.
5. Collect each farm's numbers (animals, deaths, mean body condition) for the group summary.
6. Write who came, what was taught and what farmers promised to do.

Ask farmers' permission before you share their numbers with anyone. Records are private.

The group summary

For each farm you need: animals at the start, deaths in the month, and mean body condition. For the group:

• Group mortality (%) = total deaths ÷ total animals × 100.
• Group mean body condition = sum of (animals × farm mean) ÷ total animals. (Weighted mean: a big farm counts more than a small one.)

Worked example (all example):

Mortality = 8 ÷ 130 × 100 = 6.2% (6.15 rounded). Weighted mean = (30×3.1 + 18×2.8 + 45×2.6 + 12×3.3 + 25×3.0) ÷ 130 = (93 + 50.4 + 117 + 39.6 + 75) ÷ 130 = 375 ÷ 130 = 2.88. Farm C has the most deaths (4 of 45, which is 8.9%) and the lowest score, so it is the farm to visit first, with the vet.

Your career ladder

• Next steps in study. The WOAH guidelines for community animal health workers (launched in 2024) list 11 modules, including scope of work, basic disease management, sampling, veterinary medicinal products, food safety, community engagement and running a sustainable service. The page says legal status of these workers varies by country. Use the list to check what you still need to learn. Ask the VSD for the document.
• A licence exists at a higher level. A "Veterinary Technician / Technologist (Veterinary Para-Professional)" licence is issued through the Ghana Veterinary Service. A third-party wiki (edited 1 May 2025, not official) lists GH¢2,000 for the application and GH¢1,000 to renew, and the page does not say what the technician may do. These are people with diploma-level training. This course does not give you that status. If you want that career, ask the regional office about the route.
• A real example elsewhere. In Builsa North, Upper East, the NGO GAPNET trained 30 community animal health workers in March 2023; they were observed for six months before being licensed, the licence is renewed every year, they report to local veterinary officers, and a regional official said they must "stick to their mandate". The mandate was not defined in the article. The Western Region has no known equivalent programme (not found).

Check yourself

1. Who may diagnose and prescribe: the farmer, you, or a registered vet?
2. Why are vaccination dates left blank on your calendar until the vet fills them in?
3. What is the main reason for using a weighted mean for the group score?

Competency standard

Range. One small service or shop in or near Akwidaa, Ahanta West or Takoradi. Evidence. Business plan; costing; mock profile; oral questions.

Location settings that give good returns

Business ideas and ingenuity

Ghana-safe models for the Hub's graduates are below. All stay clear of prescription medicines.

1. Herd health monitor for a farmer group. Monthly visits: body condition and vital-sign checks, hygiene and biosecurity coaching, record keeping, organising vaccination days, referral to the vet. Paid by a group fee or a subscription.
2. Hygiene and biosecurity service. Cleaning and disinfecting pens with a registered product, footbath set-up, quarantine pens, training farm workers.
3. Records and data service. Health registers, medicine and withdrawal logs, monthly summaries, report-writing help.
4. Livestock supplies shop (non-prescription only). Feeders, drinkers, buckets, thermometers, gloves, boots, cleaning materials, FDA-registered general disinfectants, ear tags, record books; teat dips and mineral licks only where registered (check). No prescription medicines or vaccines.
5. Partner with a licensed vet or a registered veterinary pharmacy as a referral and delivery partner.
6. Ideas that show ingenuity: a picture-based "sick animal" call card in Fante; a village WhatsApp group for farmers to ask "what should I tell the vet?"; a cool-box delivery service for the vet's vaccines (only when the vet asks and sets the rules); a school or church talk on rabies; a farm-gate biosecurity kit (boots, spray bottle, visitor book).

(These models are teaching suggestions, not a list of permitted jobs.) Evidence from other countries says that these services earn money from fees and from mark-ups on goods, that income depends on the number of animals served, farmers' ability to pay is limited, and sustainability is hampered by lack of agreed scope of work, training, supervision, pay and institutional support. A Kenyan worker was reported to earn about KSH 3,000 a month from about 80 clients (a foreign story, not Ghana).

Pricing and break-even: worked examples

All numbers in this section are example. Real prices were not verified: price a thermometer, gloves, a hanging scale, boots and a cool box in Takoradi shops, and write the real prices in your plan (not verified).

A. Monthly group monitoring service. You visit 10 farmers once a month at GH¢60 each (example). Income = 10 × 60 = GH¢600. Costs: transport GH¢150, phone data GH¢40, record books and printing GH¢30, replacing gloves and a thermometer GH¢40 = GH¢260. Profit = 600 − 260 = GH¢340, which is 340 ÷ 600 = 56.7% of income. Break-even farmers = costs ÷ price = 260 ÷ 60 = 4.3, so you need 5 farmers to cover costs.

B. A biosecurity set-up quote. Your time 1 day at GH¢120, transport GH¢30, materials (soap, brushes, buckets) GH¢45. Cost = 120 + 30 + 45 = GH¢195. Add 30% margin: 195 × 1.30 = GH¢253.50. A deposit of half is GH¢126.75.

C. Supplies shop item. You buy a livestock thermometer at GH¢35 and sell it at GH¢50. Profit per item = GH¢15. Markup = 15 ÷ 35 = 42.9% on cost. Margin = 15 ÷ 50 = 30% of the selling price. If you sell 40 a month, gross profit = 40 × 15 = GH¢600; after GH¢120 of monthly costs, you keep GH¢480.

Market yourself honestly

• Open a free WhatsApp Business profile. It has a business profile and automatic greeting and away messages. Write: "Animal health helper: records, hygiene, vaccination-day support, referrals. I do not treat or sell medicines."
• Open a free Google Business Profile so people nearby can find you; verification can be by phone, email, video call or a postcard (about 14 days).
• Make a signboard with your name, services, days and phone number. Use large letters and pictures of animals. No syringes, "treatment" or "cure".
• Referrals: ask satisfied farmers to introduce you to their groups; offer a free first record check.
• Show your work: a portfolio of before-and-after farm photos (with permission), your audit sheets and your certificate with the course name and date.
• Partner advertising: farmer groups, church and market associations, radio, and VSD campaign days.
• Be transparent: show your prices; keep a receipt book; never claim a licence you do not hold.

Accessibility

The Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) is the law on disability rights; reports say public facilities still do not follow it fully. In animal health work:

FAO's 2025 PPR work targets women and persons with disabilities who rely on sheep and goats. Training for staff with disabilities should be given in a way each person can follow; the Labour Act asks for training suited to the worker. Reports said the Assemblies' disability share would rise to 5% from 2026; this was not verified for this book. Ask your District Assembly about help for disabled entrepreneurs.

Check yourself

1. Name two things you must never advertise or sell.
2. What does "break-even" mean?
3. Name one adjustment that helps a person with a hearing disability do this job.

1. Name three of the eight health records and what goes in each.
2. How do you score a goat's body condition?
3. A herd of 50 lost 4 animals. What is the mortality?
4. How long should a new animal stay in quarantine?
5. Who gives the vaccine on a vaccination day?
6. How must vials be placed in a cool box?
7. A cow has died suddenly with blood from its nose. List three things you do not do.
8. Why do you report "signs" and not the name of a disease?
9. Name the six parts of the report.
10. What is a withdrawal period, and who sets it?
11. Why must leftover antibiotics never be reused?
12. Name two things an animal health assistant must never advertise or sell.

Best next reads: the Veterinary Surgeons Law, 1992 (PNDCL 305C); the AU-IBAR/WOAH/CIRAD Animal Health Educational Toolkit (2020); the WOAH guidelines for community animal health workers; and a visit to your regional Veterinary Services office. Do not copy text or pictures from the toolkit: it may be printed free with citation and without changes, and other copying is not allowed.

What this module does not cover: diagnosis, prescribing, dosing, injections, surgery, castration, euthanasia, post-mortems, herbal dosing, housing design and rations (see the sheep-rearing, layer poultry and Animal Feed Formulation courses). Cattle and pig body condition scoring, Ghana prices for equipment, vet fees and the official notifiable list were not verified.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.