WVPA congress all about poultry and human health
“The role of the modern day veterinarian is more important than ever before,” says the French organiser of the World Veterinary Poultry Association (WVPA), Nicolas Eterradossi.
During the last few days he hosted a renowned event, visited by 1,230 veterinarians from 72 countries in the French city of Nantes. “The veterinarians role is extending from the farm level to the level of human health because topics like animal welfare and antibiotic resistance have a big reach.”
The participants could join 16 sessions with 140 oral presentations and 350 scientific posters about a wide range of subjects, ranging from Avian Influenza and respiratory diseases to animal welfare and antibiotic resistance. WVPA vice president Mohammed Hafez said about the program: “It mirrors the evolution we see in the field. Problems veterinarians encounter due to welfare measures such as the emergence of new and old diseases due to the exposure of birds during free ranging, are high on our agenda. Influenza, now in Italy, Mexico and China needs our constant attention and other respiratory diseases as well.”
Professor Eterradossi hopes his congress will bring science and applied veterinary practice closer together. “The vets want to know what is in the scientific pipeline, the scientist can profit from the knowledge practitioners bring from the farm level.” Eterradossi sees a growing importance for the veterinarian in connection with human medicine, but also on a farm level. “During our program we saw a lot of advantages being made in the field of diagnostics. The opportunities are almost endless, but in the end you need an expert veterinarian which can interpret the diagnostic outcome, translate it to a treatment and keep in mind the possible consequences for human health as well as poultry farm economics.”
