VETerinarians

World Veterinary Year 2011:

This year marks the 250th anniversary of veterinary education and profession. To veterinary professionals worldwide these 12 months are full of pride and meaning as they remind global audiences of their contributions to societies and the upkeep of animal health.

But veterinary professionals are involved in much more than treating diseases and injuries in domestic and farm animals. Over the years veterinary professionals have been playing significant and contributory roles in animal and human health and welfare, food quality, food safety and food security, ecology, ethology, epidemiology, physiology and psychology, development of drugs and pharmaceuticals, biomedical research, as educators and trainers, in wildlife conservation, and the protection of the environment and biodiversity.

Veterinarians working will deal with infectious and parasitic diseases in domestic animals and wildlife, as well as with veterinary public health. Some are involved in health crisis management, others in epidemiological surveillance, early warning and prevention systems, diagnostic laboratories and networks, socio-economic impacts and livelihood studies, policy analysis, environmental assessments, elucidation of livestock production systems and landscapes supporting disease spread and persistence, animal nutrition and feedstuffs, animal genetic resources management, and pathogen tracking and disease intelligence.

In short, veterinarians are multifunctional professionals helping societies and its animals to stay healthy and productive.