If a question is raised regarding the most sought-after issue in the recent times, be it among the public or on the web, one word would be heard the loudest – COVID-19. Be it the everyday house maid or the white-collar dignitaries, everyone has their own notion about this and everyone believes that they had done their part in combatting this pandemic often ignoring the fact that fighting off this rift is not as easy as assumed, instead is a very drawn-out way forward. Pandemics like Covid though hits us hard, often reminds us the fact that every citizen around the globe are on the same cliff smudging all sorts of barriers and share an equal responsibility in driving it off.
People are engaged in a myriad of occupations largely owing to their geographical and circumstantial conditions and one such often neglected and sparingly decorated profession is Veterinary. Veterinarians are often considered next to human doctors hardly acknowledging their role in safe guarding the human health on par with the human doctors. COVID-19 from the day it started gaining people`s eyes, the entire thing regarding it is on air and almost every soul on earth is aware of the fact that it gets transmitted.
Transmission is the most important aspect in discussing the pandemic as this very nature of it wreaked havoc across the globe in no time. For a second, keeping aside this specific COVID, on a normal line, people often overlook the truth that a disease gets transmitted not only from human to human, but also from animal to human thus leaving humans highly susceptible to diseases. In the case of COVID-19, majority of assumptions refer to the hypothesis that this might be of an animal origin, dishing out the concept of Zoonoses.
Zoonotic diseases are the diseases that might get naturally transmitted between animals and humans and a whole lot of present-day diseases and almost every known pandemic in history can be attributed to animal origin. As per the available data, 60% of the known infectious diseases and almost 70% of the emerging infectious diseases are of zoonotic origin. These numbers imply the need of emphasis to be laid on animal diseases in order to prevent human infections. At this juncture, the role of a veterinarian comes to light in safe guarding the human health.
COVID-19 is one pandemic that might have shattered the lives of billions, but looking on its brighter side, this might be one subtle indication of how the near future would be and how prepared we need to be in the days forward. This pandemic questioned all our scientific fraternity as of where we actually stand in this regard. Are the days upfront not going to be a mere cakewalk for us? Are there any other pandemics waiting for their turn to pounce on us? At this point, the way how we address this current COVID-19 crisis determines the fate of this earth. People are on one of the largest known sprees of life style amendment to protect themselves from this infection. What actually a Veterinarian is worth of in this regard could be and is to be discussed henceforth.
As everyone is aware of, COVID-19 has not only hit us in the health aspect, we are shattered financially, socially, morally, ethically and this adverbal plight is endless. In this crisis, every citizen has made noteworthy contributions for the betterment of the world in their limits and many people pushed their own limits to the sky reaching out to a very huge number of people at need. A veterinarian is often considered to be an animal doctor and an animal doctor alone. This notion is to be changed in the minds of people bringing out the veterinarian`s significance in the today`s world.
ONE HEALTH is a very important aspect that has been under the horizon from the day one of its birth. Never the importance of a healthy collaboration between the human and animal doctors saw light. Especially the veterinarian`s plight in developing countries has been totally confined to the tasks like insemination and vaccination which further are limiting the veterinarian`s abilities. Initially, people are to be aware of the fact that more than 60 % of the infectious diseases are of animal origin and on successful precautions in the animal health would definitely bring out a marked fall in the human ailments too. The general notion of a human doctor being the supreme is to be curbed down and the human doctors must work hand in hand with the veterinarian that can tackle most of the outbreaks quicker than alone.
A proper planning is necessary from the top most authorities to the ground level allowing an active participation of all the wings of medicine under one roof. Human doctors, veterinarians, agriculturists, ecologists and every allied personnel are to be effectively collaborated in fighting outbreaks such as COVID-19.
In this instance of a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, what was, what should be and what could be a veterinarian`s role is the question of the hour. As man and animals are inseparable in many contexts, a veterinarian is the one concerned to rule out the probability that an outbreak cannot get transmitted to man from animals especially such contagious outbreaks. A veterinarian also made sure in this pandemic that there were no mass outbreaks in any animal flocks that would further make this place a bigger chaos. Most of the people are ambiguous regarding the consumption of meat and this is in the hands of a public health veterinarian and meat inspector to assure the public of safe consumption of meat amidst this pandemic.
Many nations saw a mass burial and disposal of millions of birds and meat which are false led by the lack of proper information devoid of scientific evidence. Such heinous acts could be prevented by a proper inspection by the veterinarian and assuring the people of the consumption of birds and meat. Further most of the human diseases share an Antigenic Core Antigenic correlation with similar strains of animals which on Genetic Shift and Genetic Drift mutate into harmful strains capable of creating havoc in the world. Only through proper examination of the available animal data, the animal disease data, their genetic makeup, their strain variations one would be at a position to take a considerable decision regarding putting out the outbreak successfully.
In addition to this, many areas saw a mass abandoning of pets by the people that led to surge in the stray dog and cat population which lead further to the veterinarian. Such owners need an effective counselling by the veterinarian in realizing that there is a very slim chance of contracting COVID-19 from pets. Further, any outbreak needs an investigation to eradicate it at its root level and such an epidemiological investigation could be carried out efficiently only with a public health veterinarian aided with a strong medical epidemiological team. In this case of COVID-19, tracing the outbreak down to the patient zero has been possible only with a proper human-veterinary epidemiologist laden team and the world now definitely needs further more collaborations to combat the future outbreaks.
On a conclusive note, COVID-19 crisis is an eye opener for this world in many areas ranging from deforestation to over exploitation of resources, and one such arena is Realizing the role of a Veterinarian amidst such outbreaks. Outbreaks would definitely be our frequent guests in the near future and in the aspect of research and development, Veterinary science needs a definite uplift to combat the emerging diseases which a human doctor alone would never be able to decipher. Many viruses or bacteria share a relation between animals and man that paves a way for the researchers to effectively study such outbreaks and design a way in coming out victorious. Never a profession would outpower another and such must be the case of veterinarians and human doctors who must work in harmony to ensure a safe and healthy future.
Its time to realise the role of a veterinarian
Its time to realise the contributions
Its time, we save ourselves.
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