World Vet Day 2015 and Aquaculture

World Vet day will be on the 25th April 2015 with this year’s theme “Vector Borne Diseases with a zoonotic potential”. The announcement for this year’s theme can be downloaded from the World Veterinary Association website here.

At first glance it might seem that aquaculture and vector borne zoonotic diseases are not connected but with a bit of thought one soon realises that freshwater fishponds could be breeding grounds for malaria carrying mosquitoes – see Wikipedia for more information. Increasingly recognised is the danger from Opisthorchiasis a liver fluke transmitted to humans which affects more than 45 million people worldwide and results from eating raw or undercooked fish. Freshwater snails of

the family Bithyniidae act as the vector. A timely review article on Opisthorchiasis has just been published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The paper can be downloaded from here. 

The above two examples are of vector borne zoonotic infections but there are several more zoonotic infections found in fish or aquatic animals with the most widely recognised being bacterial infections such as mycobacteriosis and Erysipelothrix.

Further information on World Veterinary Day and vector borne diseases can be found below:

World Veterinary Day was instigated by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2000 to be celebrated annually on the last Saturday of April. In 2008 the WVA and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) agreed on the creation of the World Veterinary Day Award aimed at rewarding the most successful celebration of the contribution of the veterinary profession to society.

The winner of the 2015 Award will be announced at the Opening Ceremony of the OIE 83rd General Session to be held in Paris, France on 24 May 2015 and will be invited to the 32nd World Veterinary Congress, 13-17 September in Istanbul, Turkey where he/she will receive the price of 1.000 US$.

The competition is open to all WVA veterinary associations, alone, or in cooperation with any other selected veterinary body.

1. Vector-borne zoonotic diseases are becoming a major public health concern in all world regions and are not limited only to tropical and subtropical areas.
2. Changes in Global climate influences the increase of emerging and re-emerging vector-borne diseases and disease outbreaks (e.g. West-Nile Disease, Leishmaniosis etc.).
3. Vector-borne zoonotic diseases are an important example of the interdependence that exists between vectors, animal hosts, climate conditions, pathogens, and susceptible human population.
4. Veterinarians are key actors of the One Health Concept at the animal-human-environment interface. Therefore, they play a central role in safeguarding Public Health.
5. Collaboration and coordination between veterinarians and physicians are fundamental to prevent and then treat vector-borne diseases.