Dr Nidhish Bhardwaj
Head of Animal Health& Welfare(HAHW),Brooke India
The whole world has come to a literal standstill in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of human life and to the economy. Scientists and medical professionals are putting in their best efforts to fight with this rapidly spreading infection. A lot has already been said about the likely origin of the deadly novel Coronavirus, but one thing which is indubitable is of the transmission from animal to humans and that poor animal welfare standards in food chain has been instrumental in origin of this pandemic. Whenever the animal welfare is compromised, then such kind of zoonotic infectionsinvariably progress into epidemics or pandemics. Animal welfare is a state when the animal is physically fit, feeling happy and able to express its natural behaviour.As its very evident, animal welfare regulations are rarely enforced in the food chain,especially in developing countries. According to OIE, the World Organisation for Animal Health,60% of the pathogens that cause diseases in humans are of animal origin. These diseases, known as zoonoses, can be transmitted by domestic or wild animals.Animal diseases that are transmissible to humanspresent a public health risk worldwide and it is imperative that they must be prevented or combated at every level.
The most effective and economical solution to protect humans is to combat all zoonotic pathogens through their control at the animal source itself.Early detection of diseases and infections at animal source can prevent theirtransmission to humans or introduction of pathogens into the food chain. Veterinarians play a key role in protecting thehealth and welfare of animals, and thus protecting thehealth of humans by following means.
- Food Producing animals:Throughout the food chain, veterinarians are responsible for compliance of regulations on animal health, animal welfare, food safety and safe trade of animal products. If healthy animals are raised in humane conditions in a farmthen chances of spread of infection can be minimised. The humane method of production can be ensured by following means;
- Animal welfare is ensured by good management practices like proper feeding, watering, housing and taking preventive measures like vaccination and deworming
- Surveillance, prevention and control of animal diseases
- Feed quality control
- Safe use of veterinary drugs
- Transportation of only healthy animals. The health of animalsto be screened during the transportation from farm to slaughter house, as overcrowding, poor handling and live transportation of livestock has been found to compromise immunity, making them prone to infection.
- Animals are examined clinically before slaughter and inspection of carcass is done after slaughter.
- Maintenance of hygiene and cold chain during processing, storage and distribution of food products.
Stray dog population control:According to World Health Organisation (WHO) 99% of human rabies cases are transmitted by dog bites. To eliminate human rabies, the
- focus must be on eliminating dog rabies, as elimination of the disease and infection at their animal source is the key to save human lives. This can be achieved by;
- Anti-Rabies vaccination (ARV) of dogs
- Awareness on responsible ownership
- Dog identification
- Control of stray dog populations by Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme
- Judicious use of drugs:Ensuring judicious use of drugs in animals to preserve their effectiveness. The indiscriminate use of antimicrobials in humans andanimals leads to the emergence of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) developing which will hamper the control of animal and human diseases.
- Control of zoonotic diseases:Tracking and controlling animal diseases, including those transmissible to humans e.g. Avian influenza, Ebola, SARS, Swine flu etc. It is necessary to prevent rapidly spread of such outbreaks to prevent potential mutations of the virus and risk of transmission to humans.
The OIE guidelines state that good animal welfare requires disease prevention and appropriate veterinary care, shelter, management and nutrition, a stimulating and safe environment, humane handling and humane slaughter. Animal and human sectors work together to protect health and ensure food safety and security. By Protecting animals, we can preserve our future. Veterinarians have a key role in preventing future pandemics by ensuring animal welfare at every level.
References:
- OIE, the World Organisation for Animalhttps://www.oie.int/
- World Health Organisation (WHO) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies
