1. Introduction

ESSENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE #6: Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.

This service involves full enforcement of sanitary codes, especially in the food industry; full protection of drinking water supplies; enforcement of clean air standards; timely follow-up of hazards, preventable injuries, and exposure-related disease identified in occupational and community settings; monitoring quality of medical services (e.g., laboratory, nursing homes, and home health care); and timely review of new drug, biologic and medical device applications.

ACVPM MODEL CURRICULUM AREAS:

Food Safety: Role of the veterinarian in ensuring a safe food supply, Preharvest requirements to ensure a safe food supply (use of antibiotics/feed additives in food producing animals), regulatory requirements related to food products of animal origin (agencies involved in regulation of food products, residue avoidance)

Zoonoses: animal bites and bite infections, rabies (legal/regulatory aspects and rabies exposure management in humans and animals), pharmaceutical, residues and antibiotic resistance, other reportable diseases

Foreign animal diseases: those that are reportable

Environmental health: non-infectious consequences of animal and human interactions (animal bites), drugs, biologics and chemicals (FDA regulations, INDA and NADA, surveillance for residues, regulatory programs and acceptable levels)

Community Health: legal aspects of community health (major legislative and regulatory public health requirements impacting veterinarians – animal disease prevention and control, disease reporting requirements)

PRIMARY EXAMPLE: Antibiotic use in food-producing animals

SECONDARY EXAMPLE: Diseases reportable to State Health and Agriculture departments

2. Learning Objectives

At the end of class, students should be able to:

• List all diseases of domestic animals that are reportable to the MDPH

• List at least 5 diseases of livestock that are reportable to the MDAR

• Describe the procedure for reporting diseases to MDPH and/or MDAR

  Required Reading

3. Required Reading

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Guide to Surveillance, Reporting and Control (for Providers) Introduction, pages 1-28.

Rabies chapter, pages 1-13

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, Division of Animal Health and Dairy Services, Reportable Disease Programs

MDAR Legal Statutes

MDAR Regulations (Animal)