THE VETERINARIAN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS
Dr. Pinky Roy Ingewar
The relevance and role of 21st century Veterinarians by Dr. Frederick Leighton, 2004 through the “Life boat Test” cannot hold true now, which indicated if “the Titanic of collective human enterprise runs into an iceberg of some unanticipated and severe difficulty”, people in essential professions including food production, healthcare, and education would be given lifeboats, but not to the veterinarians. Veterinary profession plays a mammoth task in the pandemic which threatens to disrupt the global food supply chain and we veterinarians are poised to safeguard the global food security through contributing expertise in food animal production, food safety, epidemiology and biosecurity. The pandemic is an opportunity for change in the Life Boat test theory, failing to seize this moment could erode public health and global security for generations.
The emergence of the virus SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019, in Wuhan, China and this unknown respiratory disease developed into the pandemic, termed COVID-19, as declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020 (Bojdani et al.,2020) is a major setback for the entire world. One of the main approaches worldwide for combating the disease is social isolation and distancing, at least until a protective vaccine is available (Koo et al.,2020; Lewnard and Lo,2020). In an endeavour to fight against the sudden surge of viral pandemic , caused by SARS coronavirus 2—or the novel coronavirus, the world united, the World Organization for Animal health (OIE) and World Veterinary Association also contributed on the frameworks on how to deal this deadly pandemic.
Veterinarians Roles on Educating the Pet Parents:
Ever since the outbreak of the virus, pet abandonment sadly continued to spiral and increased manifold, world over because of false rumour on whtsapp and other social media, despite research by WHO and other health organizations proving that animals cannot spread disease. The various reasons for the abandonment were related to health, economic and social stresses, as well as due to the inconclusive and incomplete reports of companion animals being potential COVID-19 carriers.Veterinarians played a crucial role in educating the pet parents and showcasing the mental health benefits of owning a companion animal, such as a dog or a cat, which have been reported by several scientific studies. As humans and dogs are both social animals, findings of Morgan et al, 2020 suggest potential benefits of the human–dog relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance with the One Welfare approach implying that there is a bidirectional connection between the welfare and health of humans and non-human animals.
Veterinary professionals have always played an integral role in public health services be it through veterinary medical research, advocating for parasite prevention or reporting cases of possible zoonosis, the veterinary profession has been an invaluable asset in the protection of animal and human health. Likewise, the veterinary professionals have a very critical role of keeping pet owners informed majorly on the following (as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines)
- Socially distancing for you and your family includes the species-diverse members of your family as well.
- Keep all pets inside with you (if possible) and if and when they need to go outside, it is important to limit contact with strangers or any other animals.
- If you are infected or you have a strong suspicion that you have been exposed to someone who is sick, it is prudent to limit contact with your animals (and people, of course).
- If possible, recruit another family member living in the same household who is not sick to care for the animal.
- Sheltering in place and quarantining includes your pets too. If you’re infected, keep your pet with you in the same household.
Role of Veterinarian in Advocating Public Awareness:
The veterinarians have been instrumental to clean the bottleneck of inadequate information throughout the country on matters related to COVID 19. The deleterious impact of misinformation of covid spread on the poultry sector in India was more pronounced even before the imposition of the country wide lockdown. Till April 2020, a loss estimated to the tune of Rs 27,000 crore is being reported by Singh, A., 2020, due to a sudden drop in consumption of meat and eggs in India because of rumours driven by fear of linking chicken meat and egg in the transmission of corona virus disease, which hampered the Indian poultry industry more than it had affected during outbreak of avian influenza in 2006 with resultant loss of USD 29.9 million (Mohan et al, 2009).The role of Veterinarian working in the Poultry Industry and Academia was enormous to bring back the staggering poultry economy through continuous education of the public regarding the role of animal protein in boosting immunity to fight against the deadly disease and removing the misconception of chicken linked spread of the disease.
Veterinarian’s role is critical not only for food safety but also supporting the livelihoods of most poorer sections of the society, who are dependent on rearing of small livestock like goat rearing and backyard poultry, as quoted by vet., Dr. Pranjal Saikia, an integrator in Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN). The veterinarians are actively involved in institutionalising of such engagement of the poor and marginal farmers into Farmers Producers Organizations for sustainability so as to support the economically downtrodden mass during the Covid crisis and in long term. PRADAN also worked with local Panchayats to detect the vulnerable families and support them with food kits, PPE materials, also they conducted several Covid awareness programme indicating the use of mask, importance of social distancing and quarantine to break the chain of virus.
Role of Veterinarians in Disease diagnostics:
Veterinary science and research institutes of the country have been roped in to test human samples for the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as an emergency measure to test the vast samples in the country. These institutes with trained staff and infrastructure facility of real-time PCR testing and the nucleic acid extraction are pivoting to support the healthcare system by conducting tests on samples for Covid-19 illness. Institutes under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)- the National Institute of High Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD) at Bhopal, and Veterinary laboratories at Maharashtra Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (MAFSU), Nagpur and various other states in Kerala, Telangana and Karnataka have been working nonchalantly in carrying out the tests. Although medics are only competent to cure diseases, for the isolation of virus and research the veterinarians should be involved. As researchers veterinarians have been contributor in following the development of COVID-19 to identify:
- zoonotic transmission from animal to human,
- potential risks to animals,
- intra- and inter-species dissemination between animals,
- possible reverse-zoonotic transmission from human to animal, and
- animal models that are crucial for the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs
Veterinarians’ critical role for ensuring food safety and agricultural livelihoods:
Veterinary services are keeping in pace with the constantly changing patterns of agriculture and food processing. Doctors of veterinary medicine are the most competent in identifying, analysing and bringing together all the factors that may threaten meat safety (and other food of animal origin) through the whole agri-food chain. In this sense, in order to detect health risks, the comprehensive approach in the meat production and inspection must include veterinary knowledge of primary production and meat hygiene, along with all the available information from the entire production system. During the assessment of meat safety in the slaughter house, it is important to analyse Food Chain Information (FCI), epidemiological indicators, herd health, animal welfare and hygiene practice of a slaughter house/farm. In that context, the importance of a veterinary practitioner at farm level is obvious, as well as the flow of food chain information from farm to slaughter house and vice versa. The role of a veterinarian is therefore extensive and includes the protection and control of animal health and welfare, zoonoses control and assurance of safe animal products for human consumption, promotion of animal reproduction and veterinary protection of the environment.
Veterinarians role in Ensuring Public health Safety:
The government regulatory bodies and attached veterinarians are working throughout the length and breadth of the country in an endeavour to keep the integrity of animal and public health intact and prevent further spread of Covid-19 with the safety and precautionary norms. The health and sanitary protocols are followed to the highest standards to prevent the ingress of exotic diseases in India through trade of livestock and livestock products, likewise for exports, health certificates are provided only when criterion as per OIE (Office International Epizootis) guidelines is met, as quoted by Dr. Jimlee Sarmah, Quarantine officer, AQCS Kolkata while maintaining the safety precautions of Covid-19 as directed by the government in public dealings. The World Organization for Animal Health does not advocate Covid-19 trade limitations for animals, however it is necessary that persons, rescue organizations and adoptive families delay importing animals during the pandemic and AQCS inspections and recommendations are to be followed strictly. Now as second COVID-19 wave has started, it is crucial to prioritize the activities in the veterinary sector to ensure:
- Animal health is not at stake and only healthy animals and their by-products enter the food supply to guarantee food safety for general population.
- Preventive measures especially vaccination drives against diseases with significant public health or economic impact.
- Student’s vocational education and training (VET) and research activities doesn’t suffer. Further, priority research activities keep continuing.
- Vets are effectively utilized through their specialization such as microbiologists/ biotechnologists for COVID-19 testing, extension workers for imparting knowledge to common people.
The multifaceted role played by the veterinarians during the corona crisis and their notable contribution in combating the disease to a certain extent in the society cannot be ignored time and again. The veterinarians working in the NGO(s), private sector(s) and for the various government bodies responsible for protecting the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industry directly and the public indirectly under the one health program has been outstanding. The fact that Dr. Albert Bourala, a veterinarian and current Pfizer CEO under the leadership of whom Covid-19 vaccine has been developed is a true reflection of veterinarians critical role for public health with special emphasis on One Health.
REFERENCES
Bojdani E, Rajagopalan A, Chen A, Gearin P, Olcott W, Shankar V, Cloutier A, Solomon H, Naqvi NZ, Batty N, Festin FED, Tahera D, Chang G, DeLisi LE (2020) COVID-19 pandemic: impact on psychiatric care in the United States. Psychiatry Research 289:113069
Koo JR, Cook AR, Park M, Sun Y, Sun H, Lim JT, Tam C, Dickens BL (2020) Interventions to mitigate early spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore: a modelling study. Lancet Infect Dis 20(6):678–688
Leighton, F. A.(2004). Veterinary medicine and the lifeboat test: A perspective on the social relevance of the veterinary profession in the 21st century. Journal of Veterinary Medical Education.45: 259-263
Lewnard JA, Lo NC (2020) Scientific and ethical basis for social-distancing interventions against COVID-19. Lancet Infect Dis 20(6):631–633
Morgan, L., Protopopova, A.,Birkler, R.I.D.,Itin-Shwartz, B., Sutton, G.A., Gamliel, A., Yakobson, B. and T. Raz (2020). Human-dog realtionships during Covid-19 pandemic: Booming dog adoption during social isolation. Humanities and Social sciences communications 7: 155-164
Singh A. COVID-19 Rumours, Fake News Slaughter Poultry Industry;Rs. 22,500 Crore Lost;5 Crore Jobs at Stake. SME FUTURES. 2020. Available from: https://www.smefutures.com/COVID-19-rumours-fake-news-slaughter-poultry-industry-rs-22500-crore-lost-5-crore-jobs-at-stake . Retrieved on 18-04-2020.
