Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Zoonotic disease and food safety for deployed pets
By Mccown, Michael Eric et al.·Published in Journal of special operations medicine : a peer reviewed journal for SOF medical professionals·2009·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Veterinary public health essentials to deployment health surveillance: applying zoonotic disease surveillance and food/water safety at SOF deployment sites.
Plain-English summary
This article discusses the important role of Special Operations Force (SOF) medics in keeping both their teams and local communities safe from diseases that can spread from animals to humans, known as zoonotic diseases. While deployed in places like South America and Afghanistan, these medics need to be aware of any diseases that might be present in local animals and ensure that food and water are safe to consume. The article emphasizes that by focusing on these public health issues, SOF medics can better protect themselves and others during their missions. Overall, it serves as a guide to help medics improve their skills in veterinary public health and environmental awareness.
Abstract
The Special Operations Force (SOF) medic must have a public health and environmental awareness mindset while conducting operations in any AO. Whether deployed at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) or isolated outpost, the SOF medic can specifically apply two U.S. Army veterinary public health mission priorities--zoonotic disease surveillance and food/water safety. The SOF medic should be knowledgeable of and perform continual surveillance for zoonotic disease(s) present within animals in their AO that may affect the deployed SOF team, other American or host-nation Soldiers, and civilians. Likewise, the critical nature of ensuring safe food/water requires the SOF medic to aggressively and continually apply food/water safety principles in all deployment settings. SOF deployments to South America and Afghanistan have confirmed the need and benefits of employing a U.S. Army veterinary public health mission focus. This article is a reference for the SOF medic to expand his overall veterinary public health and environmental awareness skill-set thereby enhancing the varied, intricate, and, often times, political SOF missions.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20112645/