In February, Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud announced that the provincial government will provide up to $50,000 per year to the WCVM's Disease Investigation Unit (DIU) over the next three years.
The veterinary college's DIU has been operating as a vital disease surveillance tool in the province for more than 20 years. The unit offers livestock producers and Saskatchewan veterinarians a source of independent, non-governmental expertise on emerging diseases and unusual deaths among livestock herds.
This is the third three-year contract that the Saskatchewan government has renewed with the veterinary college since it began providing funding for disease investigations in 2005, says Dr. LeeAnn Forsythe, provincial disease surveillance veterinarian.
Besides augmenting the work being done by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture's Animal Health Unit, this funding agreement supports private veterinary practitioners in addressing complex and unusual animal health situations. It also enables the livestock industry to respond early and reduce the economic impact of possible foreign animal disease incursions, emerging livestock disease or food safety crises.
"Early detection of foreign and emerging animal disease is critical to reducing the cost and impact of a disease outbreak or food safety crisis," says Forsythe. She adds that the program also strengthens the province's veterinary infrastructure so Saskatchewan continues to meet expectations set by the World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties).
The college's DIU annually participates in about 15 cases that occur across Saskatchewan, says Dr. John Campbell who co-ordinates the unit's operations. The WCVM professor adds that the majority of cases are related to cow-calf health problems with a good number of the problems stemming back to nutritional or toxicological issues.
For example, one perennial problem is lead toxicity among cattle herds: "Unfortunately, this is a food safety issue that requires expensive testing to determine what animals are affected," says Campbell. "It's one issue that we can help with and ensure the public's safety."
Members of the veterinary college's DIU regularly work with local veterinarians — the front line of disease surveillance — to investigate puzzling health issues at farms across Saskatchewan. WCVM faculty and students will travel to an affected farm, but in most cases, they rely on local practitioners to collect diagnostic samples and communicate with producers.
"The majority of our annual funding covers the cost of diagnostic tests. Without this money, the testing that's necessary for a thorough investigation would just be too expensive for an individual producer," says Campbell. Provincial funds also pay for the unit's travel expenses and local practitioners' services.
The beauty of having the DIU based at the regional veterinary college is that Campbell can draw on the WCVM's diverse group of animal health specialists and customize his investigation team for each call. "Depending on the species and the issue, we can immediately approach people at the WCVM who have the kind of expertise and type of experience we need to carry out an investigation," says Campbell.
Besides veterinary specialists, the DIU relies heavily on the expertise of diagnosticians at Prairie Diagnostic Services — the provincial veterinary laboratory. Other vital team members are graduate students in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and senior veterinary students who are part of clinical rotations in field service or large animal medicine.
While students involved in the investigations directly benefit from the experience, a wider audience learns about the cases through veterinary courses and continuing education presentations. Campbell also presents a yearly update of the DIU's activities to Forsythe and her colleagues in provincial government.
As well, several of the DIU cases have evolved into larger research projects and subsequent journal articles. "For example, WCVM swine specialist Dr. John Harding has gone on to conduct important research into PMWS (post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome). His work on that disease initially stemmed from a DIU investigation in rural Saskatchewan," says Campbell.
Forsythe points out that Saskatchewan relies on several safeguards — including PDS and private practitioners working at the front line with livestock producers — to detect and respond to diseases or agents that could affect animal health, public health or food safety.
"The WCVM's Disease Investigation Unit is part of that safeguard system that's in place to protect the public and livestock industries in Saskatchewan."
The veterinary college's DIU has been operating as a vital disease surveillance tool in the province for more than 20 years. The unit offers livestock producers and Saskatchewan veterinarians a source of independent, non-governmental expertise on emerging diseases and unusual deaths among livestock herds.
This is the third three-year contract that the Saskatchewan government has renewed with the veterinary college since it began providing funding for disease investigations in 2005, says Dr. LeeAnn Forsythe, provincial disease surveillance veterinarian.
Besides augmenting the work being done by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture's Animal Health Unit, this funding agreement supports private veterinary practitioners in addressing complex and unusual animal health situations. It also enables the livestock industry to respond early and reduce the economic impact of possible foreign animal disease incursions, emerging livestock disease or food safety crises.
"Early detection of foreign and emerging animal disease is critical to reducing the cost and impact of a disease outbreak or food safety crisis," says Forsythe. She adds that the program also strengthens the province's veterinary infrastructure so Saskatchewan continues to meet expectations set by the World Organization for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties).
The college's DIU annually participates in about 15 cases that occur across Saskatchewan, says Dr. John Campbell who co-ordinates the unit's operations. The WCVM professor adds that the majority of cases are related to cow-calf health problems with a good number of the problems stemming back to nutritional or toxicological issues.
For example, one perennial problem is lead toxicity among cattle herds: "Unfortunately, this is a food safety issue that requires expensive testing to determine what animals are affected," says Campbell. "It's one issue that we can help with and ensure the public's safety."
Members of the veterinary college's DIU regularly work with local veterinarians — the front line of disease surveillance — to investigate puzzling health issues at farms across Saskatchewan. WCVM faculty and students will travel to an affected farm, but in most cases, they rely on local practitioners to collect diagnostic samples and communicate with producers.
"The majority of our annual funding covers the cost of diagnostic tests. Without this money, the testing that's necessary for a thorough investigation would just be too expensive for an individual producer," says Campbell. Provincial funds also pay for the unit's travel expenses and local practitioners' services.
The beauty of having the DIU based at the regional veterinary college is that Campbell can draw on the WCVM's diverse group of animal health specialists and customize his investigation team for each call. "Depending on the species and the issue, we can immediately approach people at the WCVM who have the kind of expertise and type of experience we need to carry out an investigation," says Campbell.
Besides veterinary specialists, the DIU relies heavily on the expertise of diagnosticians at Prairie Diagnostic Services — the provincial veterinary laboratory. Other vital team members are graduate students in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and senior veterinary students who are part of clinical rotations in field service or large animal medicine.
While students involved in the investigations directly benefit from the experience, a wider audience learns about the cases through veterinary courses and continuing education presentations. Campbell also presents a yearly update of the DIU's activities to Forsythe and her colleagues in provincial government.
As well, several of the DIU cases have evolved into larger research projects and subsequent journal articles. "For example, WCVM swine specialist Dr. John Harding has gone on to conduct important research into PMWS (post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome). His work on that disease initially stemmed from a DIU investigation in rural Saskatchewan," says Campbell.
Forsythe points out that Saskatchewan relies on several safeguards — including PDS and private practitioners working at the front line with livestock producers — to detect and respond to diseases or agents that could affect animal health, public health or food safety.
"The WCVM's Disease Investigation Unit is part of that safeguard system that's in place to protect the public and livestock industries in Saskatchewan."
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