Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association

The Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association notes with great interest the announcement by the Government that it will increase the number of medical students receiving an 80% subsidy on tuition at UWI-Mona from 55 to 102. While we are very happy for the human medical students and colleagues who will benefit, we are forced to ask the question “what about us?”

If the Government of Jamaica can find the funds to cover 102 human medical students per year – up from 55, it is hard to accept that they cannot find the funds give a similar subsidy to 3 vets as was asked by the Association in the aftermath of the removal of subsidies for all veterinary students at UWI in 2015. Is the Government saying that veterinary medicine has no role in the future of the country? If not, what is the process for determining how student subsidies are allocated?

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ALERT!  AFRICAN SWINE FEVER AFFECTING PARTS OF EUROPE, CHINA 

The Veterinary Services Division of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Fisheries held a sensitization seminar on the global threat to pig health posed by the African Swine Fever virus (ASFV) on June 13, 2019 at the Alhambra Inn.

PLEASE NOTE: African Swine Fever is NOT found in Jamaica or the Americas at this time. It is an OIE-reportable emergency disease with potentially devastating effects in pigs, and by extension, affecting food security and causing economic disruption. The virus does NOT infect humans. It is currently occurring in parts of Asia, including China, and some of European countries.

Attended by various stakeholder representatives, including veterinarians, livestock industry players, Customs, the Police and Military, Jamaica Post, NEPA and public health personnel, there were presentations on the disease itself, its current distribution in the world, it’s effects, current surveillance procedures and laboratory testing requirements and methods of prevention of entry. Robust discussion ensued and all were appreciative of the sensitization received and the importance of entry prevention.

For the OIE’s latest information on ASFV please CLICK HERE.

ALL SUSPICIONS OF AN UNUSUAL ANIMAL DISEASE OF ANY TYPE SHOULD BE REPORTED IMMEDIATELY TO THE VETERINARY SERVICES DIVISION 876-977-2492, 876-977-2489, 876-927-0595 email: vsd@micaf.gov.jm 

HELP KEEP JAMAICA EMERGENCY DISEASE FREE! DO NOT IMPORT ANIMALS OR ANIMAL PRODUCTS WITHOUT A VALID VSD PERMIT!

For a detailed look at African Swine Fever, presented by Prof. Chris Oura of the UWI School of Veterinary Medicine, St. Augustine, Trinidad, please Click HERE

Note: Prof. Oura is one of the  world's premier experts on ASFV. We are fortunate to have him in our region.

VETERINARIAN OF THE YEAR 2018

Dr. Graham Brown of Animalcare Veterinary Services is the JVMA’s Veterinarian of the Year 2018.

The award was presented at the Association’s Annual General Meeting on June 2, 2019. It was to have been presented at a General Meeting held in March, but Dr. Brown was unable to attend at that time.

Dr. Brown, who served many years on the JVMA Executive, including the top posts of Treasurer, Secretary and President, was selected based on his yeoman service to the Association during the year, despite no longer being on the Executive, including his company’s sponsorship of one of our General Meetings, his role in alleviating a major crisis in the clinical community by specially importing a supply of the anaesthetic drug ketamine, when the local source was out of supply for an extended period, and his role in the organization of specialized surgeries for horses at Caymanas Park by equine surgeon Dr. Jonathan Whyte of the UWI School of Veterinary Medicine (Trinidad).

His crowning achievement for the year was the accreditation of Animalcare Veterinary Laboratory by the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) – a first for a private veterinary laboratory in the region.

DR. SUSAN KOENIG MADE AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THE JVMA

Wildlife Ecologist and Director of the Windsor Research Centre in the Cockpit Country of Trelawny, Dr. Susan Koenig has been made an Honorary Member of the JVMA. The vote by the membership took place at the Association’s Annual General Meeting on June 2, 2019.

Over the past several years, she has been a resource person for veterinarians on wildlife matters, both formally and informally, beginning in 2014 with a Wildlife Seminar for veterinarians held at Hope Zoo. She presented to us on Ebola and its wildlife connection at a Continuing Education seminar held in 2016, on Jamaican wildlife ecology and conservation at the 2017 CbVMA Conference, on Jamaican bats & rabies at the November 2018 One Health Day Conference, and again on Ebola in the Veterinary session of the Medical Association of Jamaica’s Annual Symposium 2019. She is involved in the planning and implementation of the upcoming Rabies Surveillance Project in Jamaica.

Informally, she has always been an e-mail away for consultation for a wealth of information on our wildlife and any possible disease connections.

The JVMA welcomes Dr. Koenig and looks forward to ongoing information sharing for the benefit of our wildlife, the involvement of the veterinary profession in its conservation and to promote greater understanding of wildlife’s role in the epidemiology of infectious diseases.

DR. SARAH WILKINSON-EYTLE IS THE INCOMING COMMONWEALTH VETERINARY ASSOCIATION SECRETARY

The Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA) held its 7^th Pan-Commonwealth Veterinary Conference in Bangalore, India, from March 3 – 7 2019. Over 700 delegates, including 140 from 38 other countries, mainly from members of the British Commonwealth, attended the event.

Jamaica was represented by the JVMA’s CVA Councillor Dr. Sarah Wilkinson-Eytle who, in the election of the new Executive, was selected as the Association’s new Secretary. The Executive-elect will take office in January 2020.

Dr. Wilkinson-Eytle, who operates Phoenix VetCare in Kingston and Mandeville, is a long-serving member of the JVMA’s Executive, serving in various capacities including Secretary, Treasurer and President. The JVMA takes great pride in her achievement and looks forward to her term as CVA Secretary and even greater involvement of the CVA in the Caribbean region.

The new CVA office bearers are:
President – Dr. Olatunji Nasir, Nigeria
Immediate Past President – Dr. Peter Thornber, Australia
Executive Director – Dr. Abdul Rahman, India
Secretary – Dr. Sarah Wilkinson-Eytle, Jamaica
Treasurer – Dr. Dianne Phillips, Australia
Program Manager – Dr. Sean Wensley, United Kingdom
Communications Coordinator – Dr. Jeff Cave, Australia

Currently, there are approximately 87 veterinarians practicing in Jamaica, with the majority being employed in government regulatory work or private clinical practice (involving preventative medicine and the diagnosis and treatment of various illnesses in pets, food-producing animals and horses). 

This figure represents a veterinarian: human population ratio of 1:30, 000 which is grossly inadequate, especially when compared to other neighbouring North American and Caribbean countries with ratios between 1 per 2000 and per 10, 000. 

The inadequacy is blatantly seen in the lack of clinical veterinary services in many rural parishes, where farmers and pet owners are left without veterinary care for their animals, and has also led to the proliferation of illegal practitioners which poses a threat, not just to animal welfare, but also to food safety and human health.

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The lobbying process to bring about these changes officially began in February 2004 when the (then) Small Animal Veterinary Practitioners Association of Jamaica (SAVPAJ) convened a Veterinary Colloquium on the Movement of Companion Animals. Local and international speakers discussed the advancements that had been made in the control of major diseases of these animals, most notably rabies, and the changes that had resulted in the laws, regulations and policies of other rabies free countries such as the UK, the Cayman Islands and Barbados, with the introduction of “Pet Travel Schemes.”

Based on those findings, and against the backdrop of the dangerous apparent smuggling of dogs from unknown sources into Jamaica, the JVMA issued a position document in 2005, calling for the introduction of similar changes in Jamaica. The objective was to ensure the safe movement of these pets, through microchip identification, rabies vaccination and protective titre checks, relevant parasite treatments and health certification for freedom for any other diseases of concern. This also included the necessary policy changes regarding the importation of rabies vaccines, so they could be available for pets being exported as required by many countries, as well as for humans who work on the “front line” with at-risk domestic and wild animals.

In 2008, then Agriculture Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton formed a committee to explore the issue of the movement of companion animals as well as the stray and dangerous dog situations. The Committee was comprised of veterinarians from the JVMA, the Veterinary Services Division and the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) as well as the President of the Jamaica Kennel Club. In its report, the committee called for the laws and regulations to be changed in line with the Association’s position, as well as strengthening of legislation covering the keeping of dogs, among other things.

In 2012, under Agriculture Minister the late Roger Clarke, new regulations were passed which set out a specific process for the importation of dogs certified as “service” animals and greatly expanded the list of countries from which dogs could be imported. Unfortunately, “non-service” dogs from same places were not allowed. This, therefore, did little to change the overall  status quo, and resulted in continued distress for many pet owners, both locally an overseas.

Over time, other entities and individuals joined the lobbying cause – including returning residents, tourist industry stakeholders, diplomats, dog breeders, researchers and more – pushing for change to bring the country’s companion animal policies in line with 21^st century medical science and technology. Change has finally come.

The new regulations come with a number of requirements for treatment, testing and certification for the animals being brought into the island. These, along with the list of countries can be viewed here.

Animal Health Matters is a new online resource that aims to educate and build greater awareness of the most pressing issues in animal and human health, including zoonotic disease, antimicrobial resistance, global food security and the future role and health of companion animals. Factors such as the impact of global conflicts, trade, how healthier animals mean healthier families and the ongoing focus on zoonotic disease are all debated within the new, attractive and interactive online resource.

Animal Health Matters was produced by the HealthforAnimals, the global animal medicines association, and the World Veterinary Association, the global voice of the veterinary profession to recognize that the health of our pets, farm animals and wide range of wildlife, is inextricably tied up with the health and wellbeing of human beings all over the world. 

Animal Health Matters also looks to the longer term with items such as ‘Five trends for the next five years’, which assess the impact of new and emerging factors influencing animal health. These ‘Five trends’ include factors such as better surveillance systems for disease threat identification, how portable technologies are helping to fill the void in information about the movement and emergence of livestock disease, and how the role of new technologies, such as satellite data and smart ear tagging, are helping developed and developing nation farmers detect disease sooner.

 

To learn more about why animal health matters, or to sign up to the new monthly newsletter, visit  www.animalhealthmatters.org .

Writer's Credit: Unless otherwise stated, all articles on this page are written by Dr. Paul Cadogan.