Veterinarians needed for animal, human, and environmental health

By Greg Cima

Ambassador Robert G. Loftis Ambassador Robert G. Loftis said disease can spread across the world within hours, and the only task more difficult than planning for a pandemic is explaining why you didn't.

The special representative for avian and pandemic influenza at the U.S. Department of State said it is a challenge to remain diligent against a threat that may not materialize for decades. But the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome and highly pathogenic H5N1 has demonstrated the world's vulnerability and lack of preparedness, he said.

Loftis delivered the comments Saturday morning during the symposium Global Animal Health Summit: A Call to Action to the U.S. Veterinary Profession. The two-day summit was held Saturday and Sunday in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

Dr. Roger Mahr, project director of the One Health Joint Steering Committee and past president of the AVMA, indicated animal and human health are at a crossroads. He said, "embracing the one-health concept calls for collaborative leadership across the various professional associations, academia, government positions, nongovernmental organizations, and industry." Integrating the concept will improve health worldwide, he added.

The One Health Commission incorporated as a nonprofit organization less than two weeks before the convention and about three years after Dr. Mahr—then the newly-elected AVMA president—proposed the One Health Initiative.

Ambassador Loftis said the U.S. is more prepared for a pandemic than five years ago, and he praised the Department of Agriculture and United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, for their work with foreign governments to prepare for disease outbreaks, mitigate outbreaks, provide training and technical assistance, and promote collaboration across health disciplines.

Dr. Bernard Vallat" Although the U.S. government has not taken a definitive position on the specifics of the one world-one health proposal, I hope you discern from my comments that we are working from within the U.S. government to better coordinate our efforts and to integrate animal and human health," Loftis said.

Dr. Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), stated that people need to know more about the links between animal health, food security, and global health. He said the world has unprecedented movements of commodities and people, and no community is remote.

Dr. Vallat also said alliances between public and private veterinarians are essential, and the public needs appropriate disease surveillance and early detection, notification, and response during outbreaks.

Dr. Marguerite Pappaioanou, executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, said the veterinary profession needs a workforce that is trained, ready, and confident to address issues across disciplines, such as emergency response, occupational health, and bioterrorism. The AAVMC is reaching out to partners in veterinary medicine and working to train a larger veterinary workforce.

Dr. David M. Sherman, professor in the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, said 630 million of the world's poor depend on livestock for survival, and 80 percent of the populations of some countries with rural agrarian economies depend on them for their livelihoods. Veterinary care is especially important in communities where people take out loans for their animals, he said.

Poverty, war, difficult terrain, lack of infrastructure, and economic barriers can prevent access to veterinary medicine, Dr. Sherman said. He showed symposium attendees a photograph of ruins from a quarantine and inspection station located along a migratory route in Uganda. The station had been destroyed 15 years before the picture was taken, he said.

"Unfortunately, the capacity for effective regulatory medicine is highly variable for the world's nations," Dr. Sherman said.

Humans are also at increased risk because of proximity to wild animals resulting from encroachment, Dr. Sherman said. He showed a picture of the trans-Amazonian highway cutting through dense vegetation in Brazil and a second picture taken a few years later, when secondary roads crossing the highway headed deep in to the jungle.

Dr. Sherman said veterinarians need to inculcate veterinary students with greater awareness, engender in them a broader perspective of global challenges and recognition of global disparities, and give them a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the planet. He encouraged active engagement of the veterinary profession in global issues and an integrated approach, with physicians, wildlife biologists, conservationists, and veterinarians working in collaboration.

"We need a collective voice; we need it as a profession to identify what the priorities are that are important to us and to speak out about them and use that collective voice to lobby for resources so that we can address the problems that are important to us in a global perspective," Dr. Sherman said.

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	146th AVMA Annual Convention Daily News—Monday, July 13, 2009—Seattle, WA Convention News > News headlines > Global Animal Health Summit Veterinarians needed for animal, human, and environmental health By Greg Cima Ambassador Robert G. Loftis Ambassador Robert G. Loftis said disease can spread across the world within hours, and the only task more difficult than planning for a pandemic is explaining why you didn't. The special representative for avian and pandemic influenza at the U.S. Department of State said it is a challenge to remain diligent against a threat that may not materialize for decades. But the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome and highly pathogenic H5N1 has demonstrated the world's vulnerability and lack of preparedness, he said. Loftis delivered the comments Saturday morning during the symposium Global Animal Health Summit: A Call to Action to the U.S. Veterinary Profession. The two-day summit was held Saturday and Sunday in the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. Dr. Roger Mahr, project director of the One Health Joint Steering Committee and past president of the AVMA, indicated animal and human health are at a crossroads. He said, "embracing the one-health concept calls for collaborative leadership across the various professional associations, academia, government positions, nongovernmental organizations, and industry." Integrating the concept will improve health worldwide, he added. The One Health Commission incorporated as a nonprofit organization less than two weeks before the convention and about three years after Dr. Mahr—then the newly-elected AVMA president—proposed the One Health Initiative. Ambassador Loftis said the U.S. is more prepared for a pandemic than five years ago, and he praised the Department of Agriculture and United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, for their work with foreign governments to prepare for disease outbreaks, mitigate outbreaks, provide training and technical assistance, and promote collaboration across health disciplines. Dr. Bernard Vallat" Although the U.S. government has not taken a definitive position on the specifics of the one world-one health proposal, I hope you discern from my comments that we are working from within the U.S. government to better coordinate our efforts and to integrate animal and human health," Loftis said. Dr. Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), stated that people need to know more about the links between animal health, food security, and global health. He said the world has unprecedented movements of commodities and people, and no community is remote. Dr. Vallat also said alliances between public and private veterinarians are essential, and the public needs appropriate disease surveillance and early detection, notification, and response during outbreaks. Dr. Marguerite Pappaioanou, executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, said the veterinary profession needs a workforce that is trained, ready, and confident to address issues across disciplines, such as emergency response, occupational health, and bioterrorism. The AAVMC is reaching out to partners in veterinary medicine and working to train a larger veterinary workforce. Dr. David M. Sherman, professor in the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, said 630 million of the world's poor depend on livestock for survival, and 80 percent of the populations of some countries with rural agrarian economies depend on them for their livelihoods. Veterinary care is especially important in communities where people take out loans for their animals, he said. Poverty, war, difficult terrain, lack of infrastructure, and economic barriers can prevent access to veterinary medicine, Dr. Sherman said. He showed symposium attendees a photograph of ruins from a quarantine and inspection station located along a migratory route in Uganda. The station had been destroyed 15 years before the picture was taken, he said. "Unfortunately, the capacity for effective regulatory medicine is highly variable for the world's nations," Dr. Sherman said. Humans are also at increased risk because of proximity to wild animals resulting from encroachment, Dr. Sherman said. He showed a picture of the trans-Amazonian highway cutting through dense vegetation in Brazil and a second picture taken a few years later, when secondary roads crossing the highway headed deep in to the jungle. Dr. Sherman said veterinarians need to inculcate veterinary students with greater awareness, engender in them a broader perspective of global challenges and recognition of global disparities, and give them a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the planet. He encouraged active engagement of the veterinary profession in global issues and an integrated approach, with physicians, wildlife biologists, conservationists, and veterinarians working in collaboration. "We need a collective voice; we need it as a profession to identify what the priorities are that are important to us and to speak out about them and use that collective voice to lobby for resources so that we can address the problems that are important to us in a global perspective," Dr. Sherman said. 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