January 29, 2004 - A coalition of state, university and industry officials - Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Dan Wyant, Dr. Lonnie King, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU CVM), and Dr. Judy Violante of the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) - today announced the creation of the Michigan Emergency Veterinary Network or "Vet Net" as part of Michigan’s homeland security efforts in the animal health and protection arena.

Dr. Dan Grooms of MSU CVM and Dr. Nancy Frank of MDA
unveil the Michigan Vet Net program.

Michigan’s Vet Net, one of the first such programs in the nation and made possible by federal homeland security dollars and funding from MSU CVM, is a comprehensive education and training program geared toward the state’s nearly 3,600 licensed veterinarians to enhance their awareness, preparedness and response to animal disease-related emergencies. The program was officially unveiled at the annual Michigan Veterinary Conference this past weekend .

It will include two main components: a general education series for all veterinarians and an in-depth emergency preparedness training program for those who sign up to serve in the "corps." This volunteer corps will be a group of private veterinary practitioners from across Michigan trained to identify and handle a wide variety of animal diseases that will help supplement state and federal veterinarian/agency efforts and further ensure the health and safety of the state’s livestock and domestic animals.

According to Wyant, the single case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or "Mad Cow Disease" in Washington state helps showcase the tremendous value this program could have in Michigan should such a disease ever be detected in the state.

"In addition to complementing the state’s existing food and agriculture security efforts, with "Vet Net," Michigan will have a built-in support network that will be critical for rapidly distributing information during an animal health emergency like BSE as well as having a team of trained frontline responders who could assist in surveillance and response efforts," Wyant said.

"A program like Vet Net is now more important than ever in light of emerging infectious and foreign animal diseases as well as worldwide threats of bioterrorism," King added. "Private practitioners are often the first to see animals with unusual symptoms and are the ones more likely to talk with the farmers, producers or pet owners so we need to make sure these veterinarians in the field are prepared to deal with emergency disease situations."

"Success in addressing disease outbreaks is markedly enhanced by early disease detection and a swift, appropriate response," Violante said. "Success in handling a situation in Michigan will be partially dependent on providing our private veterinary practitioners with adequate knowledge and skills to recognize and respond to a cadre of diseases in multiple animal species. We strongly encourage all MVMA members and veterinarians across the state to participate in the Vet Net training program and corps."

Vet Net will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will focus on the development and distribution of a resource binder and emergency contact information for all licensed veterinarians in Michigan. Fact sheets on biosecurity, foreign animal diseases, bioterrorism agents and emerging infectious diseases of concern in Michigan and the United States will be also distributed on a quarterly basis. When all the fact sheets are distributed, veterinarians in Michigan will have a resource binder with information on all diseases in Category A of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of possible bioterrorism agents and all diseases on the U.S. Department of Agriculture High Consequence Livestock Pathogens and Toxins list.

Phase II of the program entails specialized training for Michigan veterinarians. The first training session, to be held this coming spring, will focus on the incident command system and biosecurity practices. Veterinarians who complete this initial training session will become certified members of Vet Net corps and will be considered "on call" in case of an animal health emergency in their local or regional Michigan community.

Phase III of Vet Net is ongoing training opportunities for Michigan veterinarians on foreign animal diseases, emerging infectious diseases, bioterrorism agents and emergency response. These training sessions will help the Vet Net corps maintain a high level of preparedness in case of an emergency.

Vet Net partners include MDA, MSU CVM, MVMA, the Michigan Department of Community Health, MSU Extension, USDA and private practitioners across the state.

Veterinarians who wish to register for the Vet Net training program can contact MDA’s Animal Industry Division at 517/373-1077.