Veterinary medicine, global health

A Global Veterinary Education Program for North American Veterinary Students: A Description of Purdue University Best Practices

Worldwide growth in global mobility has transformed the way we communicate, trade, and approach global issues. The rise of global migration and distribution comes with a higher probability of transmitted disease, human-wildlife conflict, and food safety issues. No longer viewed as isolated incidents, the occurrence of global health threats in one part of the globe is now a concern throughout the world. Our society needs globally conscious veterinarians who are dedicated to affecting world change through the improvement of animal and human health; veterinarians who are prepared to collaborate, exchange, and engage with the world around them. Higher education institutions for veterinary medicine have the responsibility to prepare their students to become agents of change within society and rewrite the narrative on global health. This article highlights the intentional approach that Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine took to address the need for more globally conscious veterinarians. The article provides examples of administrative structures, funding sources, global engagement opportunities, methods to increase student awareness of opportunities, and student support. Finally, we describe the impact of this approach in increasing student participation in global engagement.

Analysing livestock network data for infectious disease control: an argument for routine data collection in emerging economies

Livestock movements are an important mechanism of infectious disease transmission. Where these are well recorded, network analysis tools have been used to successfully identify system properties, highlight vulnerabilities to transmission, and inform targeted surveillance and control. Here we highlight the main uses of network properties in understanding livestock disease epidemiology and discuss statistical approaches to infer network characteristics from biased or fragmented datasets. We use a 'hurdle model' approach that predicts (i) the probability of movement and (ii) the number of livestock moved to generate synthetic 'complete' networks of movements between administrative wards, exploiting routinely collected government movement permit data from northern Tanzania. We demonstrate that this model captures a significant amount of the observed variation. Combining the cattle movement network with a spatial between-ward contact layer, we create a multiplex, over which we simulated the spread of 'fast' ( R0 = 3) and 'slow' ( R0 = 1.5) pathogens, and assess the effects of random versus targeted disease control interventions (vaccination and movement ban). The targeted interventions substantially outperform those randomly implemented for both fast and slow pathogens. Our findings provide motivation to encourage routine collection and centralization of movement data to construct representative networks. This article is part of the theme issue 'Modelling infectious disease outbreaks in humans, animals and plants: epidemic forecasting and control'. This theme issue is linked with the earlier issue 'Modelling infectious disease outbreaks in humans, animals and plants: approaches and important themes'.

Assessment of avian influenza surveillance and reporting needs of stakeholders in Michigan, 2007

OBJECTIVE

To identify stakeholders who should be included in a Michigan-based avian influenza surveillance system (AISS) and to describe their avian influenza (AI) surveillance and reporting needs.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey involving a convenience sample of respondents.

SAMPLE

272 federal, state, and local governmental and regulatory agency professionals; veterinarians and laboratory professionals in academia; private practice veterinarians; and poultry industry members.

PROCEDURES

A needs assessment survey that focused on stakeholder identification, current surveillance methods, information sharing, and desired AISS enhancements was administered by mail, and responses were summarized.

RESULTS

Various AISS stakeholders were identified, among whom the requirements for surveillance information and methods of reporting (including via a World Wide Web-based database, e-mail, and a website) differed. Although 90% of all respondent types indicated that poultry industry representatives were key stakeholders, < 33% of poultry industry respondents indicated that private practice veterinarians and personnel in laboratories or public agencies should be considered stakeholders. The predominant concern (55.4% of respondents) regarding the current AISS was the effectiveness of communication among agencies, industry, and the public. The primary challenge identified by respondents was confidentiality (30.2% of respondents).

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

In Michigan-and potentially in other regions of the United States-integration of Internet-related data systems and stakeholder communication is likely to promote earlier identification of AI, achieve more effective responses to outbreaks, reduce morbidity among humans and other animals, and decrease outbreak-associated financial losses. Stakeholder education and technological safeguard assurances will be essential in AISS enhancement.

Teaching dairy production medicine to entry-level veterinarians: the summer dairy institute model

Food supply veterinarians who intend to enter dairy cattle practice or other related career activities are in need of up-graded skills to better serve the dairy industry as it continues to evolve. The time available for students to increase their abilities within the conventional professional curriculum is scarce, especially as those with food-supply interests are a minority of students competing for time and resources. The dairy industry has need of skilled veterinarians who are not only well versed in their traditional capabilities, but who also have an understanding of the complete picture of that industry as a "farm-to-fork" experience. Society at large also stands to benefit from the presence of skilled dairy veterinarians contributing to the production of safe, affordable dairy foodstuffs in a manner deemed sustainable and humane. Veterinarians in practice can and do acquire the necessary skills to make themselves relevant to their clients and consumers; however, better preparation of entry-level veterinarians could increase their value to their employers, clients, themselves, and society in a more timely manner. Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine developed the Summer Dairy Institute to provide an avenue for advancing the skills of new veterinarians as a means to address the current and future needs of the dairy industry. This article describes the need for, concept of, and experience with that program.

Veterinary student and veterinarian attitudes toward veterinary public health and epidemiology

OBJECTIVE

To identify predictors of veterinary students and veterinarians having an interest in veterinary public health and epidemiology (PH&E).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SAMPLE POPULATION

Veterinary students enrolled in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University and veterinarians with membership in a Texas veterinary professional organization.

PROCEDURES

2 questionnaires were designed and administered to investigate hypothesized predictors of PH&E interests among veterinary students and veterinarians. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables from both questionnaires. Prevalence ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and chi(2) tests were used to evaluate bivariate associations between variables and an interest in PH&E. Multivariable logistic regression was used to adjust for the effects of multiple variables on the outcome.

RESULTS

70% (215/305) of students believed that a course in PH&E was necessary, and 46% (140/304) believed that more courses in PH&E would improve the veterinary curriculum. Ninety-nine percent (299/303) of veterinarians believed that a course in PH&E was necessary in the curriculum. Ninety-two percent (272/297) of veterinarians agreed that knowledge related to PH&E was important to perform the functions of their job. History of raising animals and membership in 4-H or Future Farmers of America were significant predictors of veterinary students having an interest in PH&E. Being male and growing up in a rural environment were not significant predictors.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Most veterinary students and veterinarians agreed that knowledge of PH&E is important. Variables identified as associated with an interest in PH&E may be useful for designing mitigation strategies to increase the number of veterinarians entering public health careers.