Agricultural Animal Health Program (AAHP)
Land
Grant Colleges have an historic and unique mission to serve the agriculture
industry. The College of Veterinary Medicine(CVM) plays a vital role in that
mission as a provider of animal health investigative, diagnostic, and research
support to the agricultural animal industries.
With the advent of the genomic era, science is providing powerful new tools to
solve long standing as well as emergent health problems that compromise animal
and human well-being. However, to maximize benefits from these tools and to
develop new ones requires focus, consolidation, and a multidisciplinary
approach.
The College of Veterinary Medicine Agricultural Animal Health Program (AAHP)
provides programmatic oversight of College agricultural animal health activities
to ensure that efficient and productive use of scarce resources results in
maximum impact.The AAHP oversees the College's efforts on behalf of animal
industries, establishes College priorities for comprehensive disease
investigation, and enables fiscal support of targeted projects in support of
priorities identified by academic and industry representatives.
Existing CVM programs have been integrated into partnerships that bridge
traditional departmental and unit lines. Component units of the AAHP include the
Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WADDL),
Field Diseases Investigation Unit (FDIU), Animal
Health Research Center (AHRC), and USDA-ARS Animal Disease Research Unit (ADRU).
Mission
To enhance the well being of agricultural animals and wholesomeness of food
animal products through integrated disease diagnosis, field investigation, and
research.
Statement of Purpose
The AAHP bridges existing segments of the College to consolidate disease
control efforts on behalf of the agricultural animal industries in the State of
Washington. This program has the unifying purpose of responding to diseases and
disease agents that threaten the well-being of food animals and the safety of
food animal products through comprehensive control efforts extending from the
field to the basic research laboratory. It is a multidisciplinary program with
expertise in individual animal and population medicine, field epidemiology,
laboratory diagnostics, and research. Unification of purpose and consolidation
of efforts focuses disease control on priorities identified by the veterinary
medical and animal production communities, enhances utilization of existing
resources, and promotes expansion of targeted programs.
Through the integrated efforts of component units, the AAHP strives to provide
enhanced infrastructure for:
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Recognition of emergent animal and public health problems
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Response to disease outbreaks
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Industry access to disease control methods and research results
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International marketability and economic return to producers
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Provision of a wholesome and safe food supply
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Leverage of federal and private research dollars
Organization
The AAHP is coordinated by Dr. Terry F. McElwain, who is appointed by and
reports to the Dean. Dr. McElwain also serves as Executive Director of the
Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WADDL) and Director of the
Animal Health Research Center (AHRC). The AAHP coordinator is responsible for
overseeing and organizing all aspects of the AAHP, including the AHRC operations
and personnel budgets, Safe Food Initiative, intramural research funds (as an ad
hoc member of the research committee), section 1433 formula funds and any other
funds obtained for support of the program. These funds do not include individual
investigator initiated grant monies, or the CVM budgets provided as direct
support for other component parts of the AAHP, including WADDL and the FDIU.
A key part of the AAHP organization is an external Advisory Board. The AAHP
Advisory Board includes representatives of the dairy, beef, poultry,
aquaculture, swine, small ruminant, and equine industries; the State
Veterinarian; the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association; and the
College of Agriculture and Home Economics. The purpose of the AAHP Advisory
Board is to serve as a resource for information on state, regional, and federal
animal health issues affecting industry; to provide guidance in establishing
research and investigation priorities; and to represent the interests of the
AAHP to state, regional, and federal organizations.
Within the CVM, an academic advisory group representing WADDL, AHRC, FDIU, and
USDA-ARS ADRU provides advice and guidance to the Coordinator.
Working Concept: Disease Control From the Field To The Laboratory and Back
The AAHP is a College resource with efforts divided into two principal areas:
[1] disease diagnosis, consultation and field investigation; and [2] research.
The first working area of disease diagnosis, consultation, and investigation
has primary responsibility for regional monitoring of animal health,
identification of emergent diseases and changing disease patterns, rapid
response to disease outbreaks, and communication of known and emergent disease
trends to the animal and public health communities. Once identified, diseases
without appropriate control methods that significantly affect the well-being of
agricultural animals or safety of animal products become the focus for new
research projects. These research projects are coordinated under the AHRC, may
involve the USDA ADRU, and in most cases will be multidisciplinary. As new
diagnostic, management, and preventive methods of control become available, they
will be transferred back into the field through WADDL and FDIU. We recognize
that this approach to disease control is not novel; rather, it is classical and
traditional to solve disease problems through a combination of epidemiologic
investigation, laboratory diagnosis, and development of immunoprophylactic or
other preventive techniques through research. Our goal is simply to facilitate
this classic approach through a unified and cohesive College effort.
Programs of Research
The CVM and USDA ADRU have internationally recognized faculty in the fields of
microbiology, immunology, population medicine and epidemiology. Current projects
are all oriented toward disease control by identification of management factors
affecting disease occurrence, development of improved diagnostic and immunologic
control methods, and understanding the basis for the protective host immune
response. Expertise extends from the molecular level to the herd, and the
importance of each to disease control efforts is emphasized.
Established programs of research are multidisciplinary, and are in research
areas targeted as priorities for funding by federal animal and human health
study groups, including genomics, emerging diseases, food safety and
antimicrobial resistance. These priority areas have broad animal production
industry support and application, and are predicted to become increasingly
significant with expanded international trade opportunities. Programs of
Research are grouped under the following umbrellas:
