Transboundary Disease – Foreign Animal Disease Training Course

Source: Vethno

¶ The first two days of the Foreign Animal Training Course focused on specific animal and zoonotic diseases as well as the effects of globalization on transmission.  The increasing international trade of animals, animal products and foodstuffs has increased the risk of quickly spreading disease among animal (and potentially human) populations.  The interdependence of economies also creates a situation where an outbreak of disease in animals in one country can have significant impact on that country’s economy due to resulting trade restrictions, as well as disruptions in supply and demand of animal products.  Diseases that are not transmissible to human populations can still greatly disrupt demand, merely because of consumer misinformation or misunderstanding of food safety issues.  In the wake of an outbreak, countries often impose trade restrictions that are unrelated to the actual event, in order to gain a trade advantage that is normally limited by international economic agreements.  It was truly eye-opening to learn about the multi-factorial aspect of animal diseases and the downstream secondary implications to the economy.

¶ Included in the discussion were descriptions of the various roles of international entities such as the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), as well as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state-level Departments of Agriculture.  In the United States, each State has it’s own regulations regarding animal disease, animal movement and tracking requirements, and response to outbreaks – all contained under Federal-level umbrella statutes.  This disjointed nature, coupled with requirements imposed by international organizations and international trade agreements, leads to a somewhat confused and less-than-efficient mechanism to respond to introduction of foreign animal diseases.  Further, plans for containment of an outbreak and implementation of response in the US is not standardized and coordinated across governments and depends a great deal on the actual disease, speed of detection, and current response capacity in a particular location.  These challenges were also evident in the previous Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks in the UK.

¶ We also touched on introduction of foreign animal disease into the horse population, with regards to the economic impact on such a lucrative industry.  Horse breeding, racing, and showing are major industries, in which the population is highly mobile and mixes frequently.  Introduction of disease from foreign horses brought into the country (legally and illegally) or from imported animal products, such as shipped semen, can have profound detrimental effects upon the US horse population.

The term ‘Foreign Animal Disease’ is somewhat of a misnomer – it’s a matter of perspective.

‘Transboundary Disease’ is a more accurate description.

Source: Manic Street Preacher

¶ Specific diseases discussed in these two days:

• Vesicular Diseases – the challenge here is that they all look the same clinically and have very different implications for production and trade
  • Foot and Mouth Disease
  • Vesicular Stomatitis Virus
  • Swine Vesicular Disease
  • Vesicular Exanthema of Swine

• Foreign Equine Diseases – these diseases significantly affect working animals internationally; some are zoonotic and pose a particular risk to human populations
  • African Horse Sickness
  • Glanders
  • Hendra
  • Epizootic Lymphangitis
  • Trypanosomal Disease (Nagana, Dourine, Surra)
  • Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis

• Poultry Diseases – significant risk to poultry production and AI poses a risk to human populations
  • Exotic Newcastle Disease
  • Avian Influenza

¶ We also talked through the first line response of veterinarians to an actual cow/calf die-off in the United States, with a focus on various differentials that should be considered as well as proper personal protection during the investigation (if warranted).   I found this case-based learning method particularly useful.

¶ In all, the first two days of the course definitely highlighted the importance of One Health in animal disease outbreak planning due to the potential animal welfare issues, production implications, potential zoonotic nature of some pathogens, and economic impact of an outbreak.  Animal disease affects many aspects of the human population – from public health to food safety and trade.

Source: mrfink

Tagged as: animal health, animal production, animal-human interaction, disease, disease surveillance, education and training, one health, social production, technology, Working Animals