Veterinary education, zoonoses and public health: a personal perspective

Zoonotic disease poses an important threat to human public health and shoul d therefore be taken seriously. A number of zoonoses also cause severe dise ase and loss of production in food producing animals. Many veterinarians ar e less aware of the importance of zoonoses than is desirable and medical cl inicians who encounter zoonoses in human patients may either fail to recogn ise them or concentrate on treating the individual patient rather than dise ase control. This situation may be exacerbated where there is inadequate co mmunication between veterinarians, the various health care professionals an d public health organisations. Undergraduate and postgraduate training cour ses must promote a greater understanding of the importance of zoonoses and of how to investigate and control them. We also need to increase awareness amongst qualified veterinary personnel and human health care workers and to facilitate inter-disciplinary discussions and collaborative ventures. This paper suggests some ways to achieve these aims. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.