TOM HENDERSON quickly learned the difference between veterinary training and veterinary practice when, fresh from university, he was dealt an anthrax outbreak in Tatura, Victoria, in his native Australia. He says he was on the front line, witnessing its horrors first-hand. 鈥淭he first positive case I saw really hit home,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 nothing you can do to prevent it spreading except for vaccinating. In a way, it was just as important for us to calm down the farmers and help them to understand what was happening.鈥� Fortunately, the authorities in Victoria were able to draw on recent experience to restrict the outbreak to a 16-kilometre radius. 鈥淭hat was one positive. Because the previous outbreak was fresh in people鈥檚 memories, it was over relatively quickly,鈥� says Henderson.
Henderson moved to a job in the UK at the in Aspatria, Cumbria, in 2002. Although he missed the foot and mouth outbreak that devastated the region the previous year, he was the first point of call for worried farmers when foot and mouth reappeared in southern England in 2007. 鈥淲orking during an epidemic definitely adds a level of stress to the job,鈥� he says. It also brings into focus some of the most important skills a farm vet needs, such as good communication. 鈥淎t times like this, it鈥檚 vital that we maintain a healthy relationship with the farmer, as well as maintaining the health of the livestock.鈥�
These relationships can quickly sour during an epidemic, Henderson admits. So it helps that he doesn鈥檛 have to cope alone. When farm vets need help in controlling disease, they turn to the , an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
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鈥淲e act as a fresh pair of eyes,鈥� says Mandy Nevel of the , University of London, who is also a veterinary investigation officer at the VLA Surveillance Centre in North Mymms, Hertfordshire. Nevel regularly works with farm vets to investigate disease outbreaks. Because scientists at the VLA are more familiar with serious diseases than the regular vet, she says they can offer the farmer a more detailed investigation. 鈥淏ut we make sure we do it in conjunction with the farm vet as they will have a better understanding of the farm set-up. It鈥檚 important that we work together as a team.鈥�
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The VLA operates 15 regional laboratories, a large specialist laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, and two surveillance centres at the Royal Veterinary College and the . The regional laboratories and surveillance centres monitor and investigate diseases of livestock, and manage the data with help from specialist analysts at the Weybridge lab. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of opportunity to become involved in animal health research,鈥� says Nevel. 鈥淲ithin the surveillance centres, jobs are mainly aimed at vets with support from technicians, but within the regional labs there are openings for scientists such as bacteriologists.鈥�
In addition, the VLA employs virologists, epidemiologists, 鈥渁ll kinds of -ologists鈥�, says Nevel. 鈥淲e also have a number of consultants with their own disease specialities who act as points of contact,鈥� she adds. The result is a large network of expertise which operates nationally and internationally, performing varied roles.
聯鈥滱t the first sign of illness, farm vets have to act quickly to prevent further spread of disease鈥澛�
鈥淲e support DEFRA in eradicating endemic bacterial diseases such as bovine TB and brucella,鈥� says Nevel. 鈥淏ut the greatest challenge for our scientists is looking for new diseases or changes to existing ones: a mutated pathogen can have unique properties that might lead to different clinical signs.鈥�
This means that the VLA does more than examine the carcasses of livestock submitted by farm vets. 鈥淔or instance, one of our vets has an interest in bluetongue,鈥� says Nevel. 鈥淪he was following the outbreak long before it reached the UK, and that helped us to better prepare for the outbreak when it did appear.鈥�
Although the VLA has the expertise to help farm vets identify and control animal disease, when the most serious outbreaks occur, another DEFRA body steps in. Highly infectious diseases such as foot and mouth are classified as 鈥渘otifiable鈥� and by law must be reported to , another DEFRA executive agency. 鈥淚f we suspect a disease like foot and mouth, we immediately contact Animal Health,鈥� says Nevel. 鈥淚t鈥檚 out of our hands then.鈥�
If a notifiable disease is found, it is Animal Health that organises the slaughter of infected animals and imposes movement restrictions and demarcation zones, says Allan Wellwood, divisional veterinary manager at the Animal Health office in Somerset. 鈥淧art of my day-to-day job is making sure we have a team of technical administrative staff in place who are capable of responding to anything thrown at them,鈥� he adds.
鈥淭he Animal Health team employs professional vets and technical staff with training in the slaughter process,鈥� Wellwood says. 鈥淢ost of our staff are field-based with general experience of farm work. And although we have many experienced practitioners, there are also positions for younger people who have recently qualified.鈥� Animal Health also deals with welfare issues connected to international trade, as well as tracking outbreaks of notifiable disease around the world. 鈥淭here are now more opportunities than ever for vets to specialise.鈥�
A serious outbreak can take its toll on all involved, so prospective employees must be prepared. 鈥淎 notifiable disease is a disaster for the individual farmers concerned,鈥� Wellwood says. 鈥淲e must never lose sight of that.鈥� Staff must also be prepared for a battle to halt the spread of infection. 鈥淚t can be an unpleasant job. It involves long hours and hard work. We rely on teamwork and camaraderie to get through it.鈥�
Although the work is demanding, it can also be rewarding. 鈥淚 get a lot of job satisfaction from seeing Animal Health staff respond to infections in a pragmatic way,鈥� says Wellwood. 鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way since the dark days of pyres burning in fields.鈥�
聯鈥漌e鈥檝e come a long way since the dark days of pyres burning in fields鈥澛�
Their response does not go unnoticed. With the advent of 24-hour news services, veterinarians and researchers find their work is subject to more media attention than it used to be. 鈥淚n the media world, we can find ourselves at the centre of breaking news,鈥� says Wellwood. 鈥淧art of my job is to liaise with the public through radio, television and public meetings to make the important issues known. One thing that foot and mouth has taught us is the importance of communication.鈥�
In this role, Wellwood is helped by scientists from outside DEFRA, such as Hugh Pennington, an emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen. 鈥淒uring an outbreak, I do quite a bit of media work,鈥� says Pennington. 鈥淚 advise journalists on the nature of the pathogen, its likely impact and what鈥檚 going on behind the scenes. They are often interested in the human side of things, the impact for our health and the economy.鈥� The advice can be more official, too. 鈥淎cademic researchers will also find themselves in a position to advise the government,鈥� Pennington says.
Because of their expertise, researchers are often invited to participate in inquiries into disease outbreaks. Pennington says the results of these investigations can have far-reaching implications. 鈥淏odies like the World Health Organization gather as much information as possible on different nations鈥� experiences of controlling infection,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ecause of that, your work might have an international impact. In terms of intellectual excitement, there鈥檚 never been a better time to work in animal health.鈥�
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