Students Bring Zoonotic and AMR Awareness toThailand’s Exotic Pet Owners

Healthy Pets – Healthy People – Healthy Environment.

A Thai student team organized a one-day educational workshop on 12 September 2026 at Panalai Veterinary Hospital, Nonthaburi, to raise awareness of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and promote responsible exotic pet ownership through a One Health Approach.

Why exotic pets matter for One Health

Exotic pets are increasingly kept in close contact with their owners, often sharing the same household environment. This close interaction raises important One Health concerns, as zoonotic pathogens can be transmitted between animals, people and the shared environment, and antibiotics used wrongly in these animals may contribute to the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Yet exotic pet owners have limited access to structured and evidence-based guidance on these risks.

A team of five students from Mahidol University and Walailak University decided to change that. Their project, Community-Centric One Health Approaches to Zoonotic AMR in Exotic Pet Owners, was selected as one of nine projects in the SEAOHUN 2026 One Health Campus-to-Community (OH-C2C) Challenge.

Exotic D-Day: learning by doing

The students organised, hosted and ran the whole event themselves. SEAOHUN Foundation Board member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Walasinee Sakcanduang and SEAOHUN Executive Director Assist. Prof. Dr. Tongkorn Meeyam opened the day, and Dr. Methinee Pipatthana from the Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University spoke about the project’s selection through the SEAOHUN competition with support from Chevron.

The educational sessions featured two invited experts who shared practical knowledge on zoonotic disease prevention and AMR. Dr. Kanpong Boonthaworn of the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit explained how pathogens and AMR move between exotic pets, people and the environment. Dr. Benchapol Lorsunyaluck from Panalai Veterinary Hospital addressed potentially risky practices in pet owners and provided recommendations for safe animal handling, hygiene, and responsible exotic pet care.

In the afternoon, participants engaged in hands-on, interactive learning activities. Through a team-based game, participants matched diseases to their animal hosts in a team game, and a fluorescent dye and UV blacklight demonstration showed how easily germs spread from hands to surfaces. The students measured knowledge, attitudes and practices before and after the workshop.

Who took part

Twenty pet owners attended, including three who walked in on the day. Early feedback suggests they found the content useful, easy to follow and relevant to daily pet care. The team is now analyzing the pre- and post-workshop results.

What the students are leaving behind

The project will produce Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) tools and a structured training module that other communities can adapt, so the learning goes beyond one day.