Critical Needs for Research in Veterinary Science (2005) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Progress and Opportunities in Veterinary Research
2 Progress and Opportunities in Veterinary Research
Pages 21-50
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 21... ...
For example, research in comparative medicine contributes to animal health through development of preventive medicine and treatment. Study of wildlife diseases contributes not only to wildlife health and conservation but also to the study of emerging infectious diseases, many of which are zoonotic.
|
From page 22... ...
. Animals -- both domesticated and wild -- are frequent reservoirs of foodborne pathogens that can cause human illness and animals are among the most common vehicles of enteric bacterial infections in humans (http://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/)
|
From page 23... ...
Various determinants influence the carriage and transmission of foodborne pathogens during animal production and processing. For example, an animal's diet can affect the microbial composition of its intestinal tract and can serve as a source of harmful agents, such as prions related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy from ruminant neurological tissue; in freerange conditions, outdoor exposure to wildlife presents a greater opportunity for transmission of indigenous pathogens of vermin, pests, and wild animals than does controlled indoor housing, which largely excludes vermin and wild animals; in some times of the year, such as summer, there is a dramatic increase in pathogen carriage by livestock and poultry; shipping of animals can induce stress and greater susceptibility to pathogen shedding; and slaughtering practices, such as cold-water chilling of poultry, can disseminate pathogens among carcasses during processing.
|
From page 24... ...
Continuing veterinary research on food safety is needed to improve detection and surveillance of foodborne pathogens associated with livestock and poultry production, define the ecology of foodborne pathogens in food-producing animals and their environment, develop interventions to reduce the dissemination of foodborne pathogens by poultry and livestock, study the development and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance of foodborne pathogens associated with animals in the food chain, and develop methods to assess the safety and nutritional value of transgenic and cloned animals. Examples of Critical Research Needs · Rapid, sensitive, and accurate assays for detecting foodborne pathogens.
|
From page 25... ...
Other government departments became involved in biodefense research -- first the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1998 and then the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
|
From page 26... ...
. Examples of Critical Research Needs · Improved ability to detect and identify disease and pathogens in animal populations.
|
From page 27... ...
Importance and Contribution of Research Although veterinary researchers are already addressing important research issues related to agricultural terrorism and emerging disease, we are slowly gaining an appreciation of the importance of integrating human and animal health issues through "species-neutral" disease surveillance (Box 2-2) and of combining findings internationally rather than only nationally.
|
From page 28... ...
(See also the sections in this chapter on "Animal Health and Welfare" under subsection "Wildlife and Conservation" and on "Emerging Issues" under subsection and "Emerging Infectious Diseases" for discussions of zoonotic disease transmission.) Examples of the importance attached to those needs are found in recent documents published by the National Research Council (NRC 2002b)
|
From page 29... ...
. Examples of Critical Research Needs · Development of capacity and implementation of broad programs in comparative medicine to understand, rapidly detect, and control zoonotic and nonzoonotic diseases in food-producing animals raised in concentrated production units, with emphasis on techniques and technologies for field use in large animal populations.
|
From page 30... ...
. Companion Animals Over the last several decades, veterinarians and animal scientists have contributed to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of disease and to the understanding of companion-animal welfare and the human-animal bond (Badylak et al., 1998; Dodds, 1995a,b; Lawrence, 1994; Ostrander et al., 1993; Parker et al., 2004; Patterson et al., 1988; Smith, 1994)
|
From page 31... ...
Companion animalresearch has typically been in three categories: research on the diseases or conditions of companion animals for their direct benefit, research on diseases of comparative medical or pathological significance that provides direct benefits to companion animals and indirect benefits to humans, and research on basic physiological, pharmacological, molecular, or pathological processes that primarily benefits humans but benefits companion animals indirectly. (See section on Comparative Medicine for details on animal models for biomedical research.)
|
From page 32... ...
· Improved understanding of the ecology of microbial organisms that may be transmitted to humans from companion animals and vice versa. Importance and Contribution of Research Failure to address issues involving companion-animal health and well-being will result in substantial morbidity and mortality in companion-animal populations; adversely affect the psychological well-being of their owners and the family and social framework; and delay or prevent advances in pharmaceutical and biologics development and in the understanding and treatment of many important human and animal diseases.
|
From page 33... ...
Laboratory Animals Laboratory animals are integral to our understanding of basic biology and physiology and have contributed to the discovery and development of virtually every human and animal health product and technique used in contemporary medical practice. The sophisticated specialty of laboratory animal medicine has evolved over the years to provide expertise in the breeding, management, and humane care of research animals and expertise in experimental design and methodology.
|
From page 34... ...
Even the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, on which most of the housing standards and sanitation practices used in contemporary animal facilities are based, acknowledges that research on laboratory animal management continues to generate scientific information that should be used in evaluating performance and engineering standards. It also recognizes that for some issues, insufficient information is available and continued research into improved methods of animal care and use is needed.
|
From page 35... ...
More recently, veterinary researchers have been active in studying diseases that affect endangered species in the wild and developing techniques to treat and control the spread of disease in wildlife populations. Veterinary researchers in wildlife diseases have contributed to our understanding of and management of disease effects on wild and captive populations -- for example, brucellosis in bison, tuberculosis transmission between deer and cattle populations in the upper Midwest,
|
From page 36... ...
. In addition to conservation, veterinary researchers can play a role preventing transmission of wildlife diseases between agricultural and other animal species.
|
From page 37... ...
Many large zoos in the United States have veterinary clinicians on staff, and some have teams of veterinarians and veterinary researchers that study diseases and reproduction in captive and wild animals. Notable discoveries made by zoo veterinary researchers include the discovery that herpes viruses that are benign in Asian elephants can be lethal to African elephants when the two coexist in zoos (work conducted at the US National Zoological Park)
|
From page 38... ...
Rehabilitation centers sometimes use veterinary researchers and clinicians to manage the health of the wildlife populations in their care. Wildlife rehabilitation centers also conduct research on free-ranging wildlife populations.
|
From page 39... ...
Veterinary research in zoos is critical to conservation of endangered wildlife, providing unique insights into disease processes in captive animals that can be extrapolated to free-living wild populations. COMPARATIVE MEDICINE Animal Modeling Animal Models for Human Diseases Research on animal models has been essential to our understanding of basic and applied sciences and has led to important improvements in the management of human and animal diseases (NRC, 2004a; see Box 2-4 for medical advances achieved through animal research)
|
From page 40... ...
Animal Models for Animal Diseases Information generated by animal-based experiments has been used primarily to benefit human health and well-being, but parallel benefits have been accorded to animals (Dodds, 1995a; Wagner, 1992) ; for example, with respect to inherited bleeding disorders (Dodds, 1995b)
|
From page 41... ...
Size, anatomy and appearance, composition and metabolism, behavior and temperament, and disease susceptibility will be investigated. Effective Animal Models to Establish Safety and Efficacy of Therapeutic Compounds The challenge today is to develop better treatments for the many serious diseases that afflict human and animal populations.
|
From page 42... ...
Further characterization of existing and newly developed disease models in rodents and other laboratory animal species will lead to better validation of potential therapeutic disease targets and analysis and understanding of disease pathways in animal models (Kinkler, 2004)
|
From page 43... ...
. Vaccine-Related Research Understanding of basic immune mechanisms in laboratory animals has made it possible to design vaccines that protect against infectious diseases, to induce effective responses to tumor antigens, and to control graft rejection and autoimmune diseases (Tizard, 1990; Lanzavecchia, 1993)
|
From page 44... ...
EMERGING ISSUES IN VETERINARY SCIENCE Emerging Infectious Diseases Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) have become recognized as one of the most important threats to public health over the last 30 years (Binder et al., 1999; IOM, 1992; NRC, 2003b)
|
From page 45... ...
. The zoonotic predominance among EIDs suggests a growing need for veterinary researchers to understand dynamics of wildlife pathogens that have emerged or are likely to emerge into human populations (for example, West Nile virus and viruses related to SARS coronavirus or Nipah virus)
|
From page 46... ...
Veterinary researchers have an important role to play in the advancement of ecosystem health and can contribute in numerous and diverse ways. For example, veterinary researchers have been involved in the characterization of a multispecies (human, companion animal, and marine mammal)
|
From page 47... ...
(See subsection on Laboratory Animals under the Animal Health section.) Although government standards have been established for laboratory animals, the management of food-producing animals is based largely on practices developed and implemented by animal scientists and food-animal producers.
|
From page 48... ...
In addition, the effects of new products and technologies used to enhance animal production, including growth hormones and genetic modification, have caused some public concerns. In addition to laboratory animals and food-producing animals, welfare is an important consideration for animals used for entertainment, racing, hunting, military and police activities, pet therapy, service (such as Eye Seeing dogs)
|
From page 49... ...
Importance and Contribution of Research Additional research is required to determine the optimal care and use of animals and to support the development of sound public policies governing animal welfare. Research is also required to ensure best management practices of animals in the face of a widespread disaster involving animals and to protect human health.
|
From page 50... ...
and food safety stand out because of the potential for catastrophic effects on human and animal health. However, problems often arise from fields that have been overlooked (for example, exotic pets)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.