Veterinary Epidemiology in Latin America

Veterinary epidemiology in Latin America
Santiago P. Urcelay *
Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 2 Correo 15, La Pintana, Santiago, Chile
1. Introduction: influence of epidemiology in Latin
America
Historically, the influence of epidemiology in Latin
America (L.Am) developed in three areas: the public sector
(primarily Ministries of Health and Agriculture), the
private sector (principally in animal production establish-
ments) and in universities or research centers.
In practically all L.Am countries, epidemiology was
introduced first in Ministries of public health, particularly
in areas related to zoonoses, food inspection, and
environmental factors, which utilize epidemiologic meth-
odologies. From there, it later moved to the Ministries of
Agriculture, where it was used in programs for control of
animal diseases of economic and commercial importance
such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), brucellosis,
cysticercosis, tuberculosis, Newcastle disease and echino-
coccosis. At the same time services of information
gathering and data analysis were developed, thus creating
the first clinical epidemiological surveillance units. During
the 1960s and 1970s, different projects to control animal
disease received loans from international banks, for
example Chile’s loan from the Interamerican Development
Bank to control FMD.
Simultaneously, universities introduced the subjects of
mathematics and biostatistics in the veterinary curricula.
Furthermore, courses in epidemiological methodology
were developed for both the DVMcurriculumand graduate
programs. In many cases this coursework development
was assisted by international organizations such as the Pan
Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295
A R T I C L E I N F O
Keywords:
Epidemiology
Preventive veterinary medicine
Latin America
Training
A B S T R A C T
Veterinary epidemiology began in different Latin American countries during the 1960s and
the 1970s in different universities and state-run institutes of animal health. The discipline
evolved as a continuation of the activities veterinarians carried out in the areas of public
health, infectious diseases, biostatistics, and the planning and administration of animal
health programs. Fromthe outset, the concepts were oriented towards covering the whole
spectrum of factors involved in animal health, including political and social factors.
Subsequently, the aforementioned factors were complemented with scientific and
methodological support, backed by post graduate qualifications offered by the North
America and European universities, together with financial support from intergovern-
mental organizations.
One important contribution for the Latin American veterinary epidemiology and
economics community was the ISVEE 10 which took place in Chile in 2003, which served to
link many professionals and scientists with the world of people working in those themes.
Whilst the study programs of veterinarians of the Latin American universities have
different forms and depths when delivering competencies in epidemiology, most have
similar conceptual and methodological elements.
Ideally, the profile of an epidemiology teacher should include the qualities of dreamer
and explorer of newtheme worlds, combined with simplicity and openness to the world. A
teacher’s knowledge should transcend worlds and be enriched by what takes place outside
the bounds of their geographic or university frontiers.
ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
* Tel.: +56 2 978 2097; fax: +56 2 978 2783.
E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Preventive Veterinary Medicine
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/prevetmed
0167-5877/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2009.09.005
American Health Organization (PAHO) of the World Health
Organization. Examples are courses on Planning in Animal
Health given by the Pan American Zoonosis Center
(CEPANZO) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and courses given
by the Pan American Center of Foot and Mouth Disease
(PANAFTOSA) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Moreover, during
this early period, Colombia, with assistance of GTZ
(Deutsche Gesellschaft fu¨ r Technische Zusammenarbeit)
was active in developing epidemiological activities, carry-
ing out field studies, simulation of outbreaks of disease,
and the use of computers to collect and analyze informa-
tion.
There are many distinguished veterinarians who
boosted the initiative in training professionals in their
own countries and services and also from international
organizations. Foremost among these was Dr. Pedro Acha
from PAHO who understood the importance of the holistic
approach of one medicine and one health, and who, in the
mid-1960s assisted Dr. Calvin Schwabe in the design of the
Master in Preventive Veterinary Medicine offered by the
University of California, Davis. It was in the MPVM
Program where veterinarians from all over L.Am have
trained and where, in recent years, the object of our
homage, Dr. David W. Hird, has served as Director.
From 1960 onwards, universities began to design MSc,
MPVM, PhD, and MPH, programs, mostly in the United
States of America and Europe. In L.Am., masters degrees in
Epidemiology were developed in the 1970s and by the
1980s were offered in various countries with an emphasis
on preventive veterinary medicine and epidemiology.
Most of the veterinary medicine curricula in L.Am
introduced epidemiology as a preventive medicine tool.
2. Veterinary public health – how this approach
influenced development of epidemiology in Latin
America
As previously mentioned, in L.Am the influence of
epidemiology in animal health followed development of
epidemiology in the area of public health, particularly with
the first veterinarians who graduated with Masters or PhD
degrees in public health, not only from universities in the
United States and Europe, but also fromuniversities in Latin
American countries. These L.Am universities had begun to
offer Master‘s degrees in public health in the 1950s in
human medicine faculties or through postgraduate training
offered by the public health Ministries in the different
countries. As an example, beginning in 1952 the Faculty of
Medicine of the University of Chile offered a Licentiate in
public health with courses of health education, adminis-
tration, epidemiology, economy and statistics.
Activities related to zoonoses, food safety, and nutrition
have been the principal fields of work for L.Am veterinar-
ians working in public health and it is here where it has
been possible to put epidemiological knowledge into
practice. In the last 20 years the topics of environmental
impact, basic sanitation, and pest and plague control have
been added.
The contribution of public health veterinarians to the
field of epidemiology in public health has been extremely
important because the training of professionals in the field
has included themes related to ecology, the environment,
animals in the lives of humans, and, therefore, a more
holistic vision of human health.
Unfortunately, participation of veterinarians in the area
of public health varies greatly from country to country in
L.Am at both local and national levels, and greater efforts
are needed to ensure an optimal level of veterinary
expertise throughout all L. Am.
In spite of this, L.Am veterinarians have a good
understanding of the concept of ‘‘one health system’’,
incorporating both human and veterinary medicine as
outlined by Schwabe (1964) and Nolen (2007), along with
many professionals and academics, who are reinforcing a
holistic vision of ‘‘one health’’, whereby the health of the
environment, control of zoonoses and food quality and
safety are becoming more and more relevant, and where
collaboration between different areas of health is frequent.
On the other hand, this vision has expanded to other
professions, which can be demonstrated by the post
graduate courses in epidemiology in the University of Chile
in which agronomists and forestry professionals have
participated alongside veterinarians for over 25 years.
However, there is more work to be done in order to further
integrate the tasks from different professions into a more
integrated, collaborative vision (King et al. (2008)).
3. Epidemiologic approach to animal health in
governmental agencies and universities
In general, the vision of animal health in public services
in L.Am includes veterinary clinical medicine and animal
science. This is because L.Am. veterinary schools created at
the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the
20th century were established due to problems of livestock
health and related public health issues, not pet health
problems. This has had an enormous effect on livestock
productivity and as a consequence, an economic impact on
the cattle-farming industry. In the last 20 years more than
350 veterinary schools have been created in L.Am but just
few of them have been accredited.
The animal health orientation of veterinary medicine
delayed the adequate holistic understanding and analysis
of problems of animal populations—especially from the
point of view of State services—that would have allowed
incorporation of benefits and social and economic cost in
design of animal population programs. This focus on
animal disease, with a strong emphasis on the agents and
their characteristics, added to the development of diag-
nostic and immunological techniques and had a huge
influence on the fragmentation of the systematic epide-
miological vision, which from the outset should have been
included disease control programs in the corresponding
countries.
It is for this reason, despite the enormous scientific and
methodological advances of epidemiology worldwide, that
this approach to animal health exists in many state
services in L.Am. To a large extent this is due to the
influence of the entities that train veterinarians in our
countries, something which will become clearer later
when the development of the epidemiology curricula is
presented.
S.P. Urcelay / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295 289
On the other hand, it has been difficult to convince
those who require animal health services that the final
objective should be creation of animal health rather than
treating animal diseases. That is to say that ‘‘it is more
ethical and economical for our countries to construct a
fence on the top of a cliff, and not a fully equipped hospital
at the bottom of the abyss.’’ Unfortunately, most State
veterinary services in L.Am. still identify themselves with
disease control and not with the outcome of animal health
and productivity. Despite this, the importance of epide-
miology in veterinary services is increasingly more
important in L.Am, with better human resources technical
competency, leadership qualities and financial resources in
order to give guarantees to stakeholders. Additionally,
these improvements in strengthening scientific capacities
and the computing systems are needed to comply with
norms and international standards of trade of animal
products, and in principles of harmonizing, equivalence
and zoning (OIE, 2007).
Animal health cannot be seen as merely the lack of
biological disease. Preventive action and action regarding
local health training need to be considered along with
recuperative action. In this wider perspective the damage
to animal health is direct (a reduction or loss of production,
an increase in mortality) or indirect (losses in productive
capacity, deficiencies in biological development or a
reduction in reproductive capacity). With either, the result
is a short-term effect or a chronic long-term effect. An
important effect of this epidemiological way of thinking
has been the control of FMD and external and internal
parasites in Brazil. Other damages are seen in relation to
the investment made by both the private and the state
sector when expected production yields are not met
(Astudillo et al., 1991).
Furthermore, as cattle-farming is an important part of
the economies of various L.Am countries, the damage
caused by animal health problems has a direct effect on
exportation, not to mention internal economies. Moreover,
the epidemiological approach helps with control animal
diseases. Examples are the eradication of FMD, velogenic
Newcastle disease, equine infectious anemia and avian
influenza in Chile; control of FMD in other L.Am countries
such as Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; control of
Chagas disease in Chile and Argentina; control of
cysticercosis in Peru´ and others. Losses in animal produc-
tion affect public health, especially loss of food, resulting in
malnutrition, and also through the direct effects of
zoonoses.
Moreover, depending on the input–output matrix of
each country, livestock production will have a greater or
lesser impact on the gross domestic product, employment,
etc (Astudillo et al., 1991).
One large area of impact on animal health is that of
small animal producers that exist in all the rural
populations of L.Am. In many cases (Chile, for example),
they are an important part of meat production of cattle,
goats and sheep for the internal consumption of the
country. It is these small producers of meat from cattle,
goats and sheep, with barely enough land, who, due to
disease of their animals and scarcity of food, see limited
possibilities for exportation of their products, currently
making it an important epidemiological and social
challenge.
Human intervention in the environment with new
techniques of cultivation, introduction of new vegetable
and animal species, expansion of cities, amplification of
business, political situations, economics and the educa-
tional processes of their populations, amongst other
variables, establishes new specific forms of social interac-
tion that modify historical tendencies of animal health,
sometimes in a dramatic way.
All these interventions affect livestock exploitation and,
therefore, they impact livestock health, affecting the
network of the interaction of variables that, in the main
part, are either directly or indirectly provoked by
humankind, its ambitions and convictions. It is for this
reason that it seems convenient to separate the effects that
mankind provokes in the famous ecological ‘‘agent-host-
environment triad approach’’. Traditionally, these have
always been considered part of the environment, but, with
its relevance being so large and varied, it is essential to
handle it as a special group of factors considering therefore
a ‘‘Four-pronged ecological approach.’’ This articulates
perfectly what King et al. (2008) suggest, the idea that the
convergence of people, animals and environment has
created a new dynamic in which the well-being of each
group is intimately interconnected.
It is in this way that directly or indirectly mankind is
responsible for animal disease, particularly in L.Am, with
health and disease being a reflection of the economic and
social conditions of its people, who to a large extent survive
thanks to the policies of their governments, the sterile
power struggles, the lack of equality and comprehension of
the responsibilities of one group for the other, and the
exclusion or lack of participation in decision making. From
here, the development of cattle-farming is a consequence
of the interaction of multiple factors: political, economical,
social, environmental, cultural, administrative, and mat-
ters of human resources that are part of the self-sufficiency
or food exportation strategies used to maximize utilities or
for other objectives.
From a similar viewpoint, the health of the animal
populations whose final destination is sports-related or
domestic, to a certain extent, continues the same general
pattern whereby the specific emphasis is on the interest of
animal in sports, competitions or the domestic market
(Astudillo et al., 1991).
This aforementioned holistic mode of envisaging
animal health (Schwabe et al., 1977), involves other
interests related to the livestock industry such as
refrigerators, veterinary products, food suppliers, con-
struction of livestock facilities, agrochemicals, machines
and equipment, and a range of services such as transport,
product storage, and shipping services amongst others,
factors that should be taken into consideration for risk
analysis in the process of the commercialization of animals
and their products.
The panorama of animal diseases in L.Am countries is a
kaleidoscope of existing situations and of economic impact
within each country, where nuclei of livestock exporters of
extraordinary dynamism and quality in their sanitary
conditions whose production and sanitary conditions rival
S.P. Urcelay / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295 290
those of any developed country exist side-by-side with
large rural animal populations in the hands of small
agricultural producers, with a lowlevel of investment, who
have their animals like ‘‘small banks’’ whichthey can resort
to when there is a need due to illness or festivals and
celebrations (Astudillo et al., 1991).
Extensive animal production systems are typically used
by these rural groups (including owners without land who
pasture animals on roadsides) and animals in these systems
oftenaremalnourished, haveinternal andexternal parasites
(many of them zoonoses), and viral and bacterial illnesses.
The systems have little or no hygiene for installations,
limited sanitary management, lack of economic resources,
poor levels of education with gradual aging of rural workers
(the younger generation tends to migrate to the cities) and
low levels of information.
It is from this perspective that many L.Amauthors have
pointed out that the profiles of animal health in these
countries are determined by the size of the properties, the
means of production, social organizations and State aid,
rather than by the bio-medical problems that affect them
(Astudillo et al., 1991).
As part of the current strategies of cattle-farming
production, either voluntary or involuntary, the producers
introduce chemical or biological elements that impact the
environment. This is a cost that should be incorporated
into the productive processes, yet is a topic which lacks
legislative support to enforce current regulations. Subse-
quently, it is often the country which wishes to import
animal products which forces the enforcement of certain
norms regarding the use of biological products with
livestock.
If the means of production is evaluated from a holistic
viewpoint, it is possible to appreciate that the animal
population finds itself immersed in a determined social,
ecological, administrative and economic context. Fre-
quently, it is the social relationships that mark the means
of production which appear in a specific geographical
space. This allows for spatial limits for cattle-farming to be
established at a rural level, with spaces for the develop-
ment of sports and urban conditions for the population of
pets. This is done in accordance with the structure for the
production of animal food, sports or pets (Obiaga et al.,
1979).
It is in this particular production structure, where
animal diseases are prevalent. Therefore, it is possible to
study the complete set of disposable or determined factors
of said prevalence and, at the same time, move closer to the
set of factors that best express the possible casual
explanation, thus opening an area for measures of control
(Rosenberg, 1986).
In L.Am, in addition to the biological context, the only
way to understand the situation of animal health should be
through its interpretation as a complete whole and in its
socio–economic–political context. This should be done by
means of a totalizing discipline like epidemiology, allow-
ing better understanding of the full picture and the means
of correcting undesired situations of which diseases,
among others, are a part.
It is when poverty and inequality exist, which is the
situation in the L.Am countries, that we should optimize
human and financial resources in an obligatory fashion,
leveling out the importance of the multi-factorial pro-
blems.
Ideally, promotion of health in livestock emphasizes
disease prevention and promotion of good health. Unfor-
tunately, on many occasions, we in L.Amhave followed the
path taken by developed countries that have not used
epidemiological strategies with the necessary depth.
It is for this reason that the problems of the animal
populations require a precise regional characterization of
all their factors in an established time and space, trying to
understand the phenomena in their global context and also
particularly to all those things that interfere with the
health and productivity of the animals (Zepeda et al., 2001;
Zepeda, 1998).
Epidemiologists must work with other professionals,
because no single person or discipline can adequately
master all component fields necessary to ensure a high
standard of animal health. However, it will always be
necessary to have a team member capable of putting the
pieces of the puzzle together, and that person should be an
epidemiologist.
In general, the progress of animal health control
programs in L.Am is related to progress of epidemiology
in such L.Am countries as Chile, Brazil and Uruguay.
4. International symposium on veterinary epidemiology
and economics (ISVEE): participation of Latin American
academics and professionals in ISVEE
Sharing of scientific and technological information is
greatly facilitated when scientists, professionals and
technicians can meet with their peers. Congresses and
symposia allow professionals to keep up to date with the
enormous amount of scientific information generated in
their fields, in addition to reading select periodical
publications. These meetings are the precursor of ideas
and work in progress that are subsequently published, and
they are also the place of contact amongst scientists and
professionals.
These events, apart from serving as a place to receive
and present information, are a special place for meeting
and establishing direct contact with researchers from
diverse university origins, and companies from both the
private and public sector with similar orientation, which
encourages the gradual incorporation of other health and
economics professionals. Non-participation in these
events produces a slow and gradual scientific isolation.
As Dijkhuisen et al. (1995) point out, the economics of
animal health offers veterinarians a set of concepts,
procedures and data that support the decision making
process and optimize animal health management. It was
Morris (1969) in Australia and Ellis (1972) in England who,
as pioneers almost 40 years ago, gave scientific sustenance
to this process. Moreover, it is in the scientific founding of
this process that we should give thanks to the contribution
that these ‘‘masters’’ gave. They showed us the principle of
‘‘marginal utility’’ which totally changed the opinion that
the control of disease was all or nothing. This we have
learned well in L.Am and it is a road that many countries
are following in the control of diseases when it is
S.P. Urcelay / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295 291
frequently inconvenient to eradicate disease if it is not
possible to demonstrate the real benefits that this action
has. One good example was the FMD control in Uruguay
when they changed the stamping out strategy to vaccina-
tion.
Attendance at the International Symposia on Veterinary
Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE), along with the
presentation of research work, has been gradually
increasing. Whilst there were only 65 participants at
ISVEE 1 in 1976 in Reading, England, there were over 1,000
in attendance for ISVEE 11 which took place in Cairns,
Australia in 2006, and it is hoped that attendance will be
even higher for ISVEE 12 in South Africa in 2009. However,
it is difficult to calculate exact figures on continent of
origin of the participants, for while many come from one
continent, they may be doing postgraduate study or
working in another at the moment they attend.
A general view suggests that up until ISVEE 9, which
took place in 2000 in Breckenridge, USA, the majority of the
participants were from the USA, followed by Europe, then
Australia/Oceania, Asia, Africa, and Central and South
America and the Caribbean, which had the least repre-
sentation (Urcelay, 1990).
The long distances from L.Am to these international
congresses was what probably led to the interest to offer to
carry out an ISVEE in L.Am, so that more L.Am scientists
and professionals could attend and have the chance to
relate their experiences and work on veterinary epide-
miology and economics. The aforementioned occurred
when Drs. Herna´ n Rojas and Julio Pinto, who obtained their
doctorates in epidemiology in Reading, England, attended
ISVEE 8 in Paris (1997) where they proposed that a future
ISVEE should take place in L.Am. This proposal was
supported by many attendees, including Professors David
Hird, Peter Ellis, Mo Salman, Roger Morris and others. This
proposal was facilitated by the visit to Chile of the ISVEE
President, Dr. Brian Perry, who was able to verify Latin
America’s commitment to organize ISVEE 10, as shown by
pledges of the Ministry of Agriculture, the University of
Chile, the Veterinary College, private associations of
producers and animal health services in Chile and in other
L.Am countries.
As always, language has been a barrier for presentation
of work in international congresses. This was addressed in
ISVEE 10 by allowing abstracts to be submitted in both
Spanish and English. In said Symposium, another innova-
tion was the incorporation of either Spanish or English as
the language for the presentation of papers, which
facilitated attendance of more non-English (Spanish)
speakers, principally from L.Am, although some were from
other Spanish-speaking countries. For example, papers
presented in Spanish, not including the work of Spanish-
speaking researchers working in North American, Cana-
dian or European universities in ISVEE 10 amounted to
13.4% of 432 oral presentations, whilst in previous events
the number of presentations by L.Am scientists had been
less than 2%. This shows the importance of searching for
mechanisms that facilitate the incorporation of presenta-
tions and that veterinary epidemiology, as a way of
thinking of animal health, is incorporated in the world as
widely as possible. This is an important task for the groups
responsible for future events because our mission is to
appeal to many more professionals about with this
strategy of seeing animal sciences and public health in
professional practice and academia. This will lead to
decision makers having better support in the utilization of
human and economic resources, a wider commercial
coverage, and the facilitation of better understanding.
I want to highlight something unknown to many, which
spotlights the figure of our homage, David Hird. It refers to
the fact that he unselfishly used valuable time from his
sabbatical to directly support the selection and organiza-
tion of all the presentations that were submitted for ISVEE
10. He also planned the program, which, as those who
attended can vouch for, turned out to be flawless.
ISVEE 10 was the first symposium carried out in an
L.Am country and it was thanks to the intervention of
visionary epidemiologists who attended ISVEE 8. They had
faith that it was possible to organize a complex scientific
event on the topic of epidemiology in a country like Chile,
far from most developed countries, which increased the
cost of transport for many participants. It was a gamble of
trust and solidarity for which we in L.Am are deeply
grateful. Also, the decision to stage ISVEE 10 in Chile
subsequently stimulated interest among young L.Am
professionals to undertake postgraduate studies in epide-
miology in their own countries and also in developed
countries. To a large extent, it was these young L.Am
professionals who made the organization of ISVEE 10
possible, and those who rose to face the challenge. We
deserve to have more confidence in our countries in the
future because we can rest assured that these youngsters
will be the harvesters of the seeds we have sown
throughout the universities, state services and companies
in the private sector.
5. Curricular development and training in epidemiology
in Latin America veterinary sciences programs
It is difficult to establish clear landmarks regarding the
incorporation of epidemiological concepts and activities
into the tasks of the veterinary public health or animal
health services in L.Am. However, the beginnings can be
traced back to Mexico with the huge FMD epidemic from
1946 to 1952, or the public views towards rabies, both
paralytic and urban, Venezuelan equine encephalitis and
screwworm in Central America and further to the South of
America with sporadic outbreaks of FMD, brucellosis,
cysticercosis, trichinosis, and bovine tuberculosis.
In an attempt to track the evolution of the development
of the epidemiology study programs in veterinary clinics
in L.Am, a short questionnaire with four questions
(Appendix A) was sent to well-known professors from
different L.Am. From a total of 26, 12 replied and a large
part of the opinions that were gathered then are given in
this presentation.
In the University of Chile, the subjects of biostatistics,
public health, agricultural economics, and infectious
diseases were formally incorporated in the veterinary
curriculumin 1962. In infectious disease courses, a section
on epizootiology was included for each of the diseases
studied. Epidemiology as such was incorporated into the
S.P. Urcelay / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295 292
Masters’ program in 1971 and in the graduate program in
1976 in a course entitled Epidemiology and Public Health.
In Mexico, public health was explicitly incorporated into
the study program in the 1960s, whilst epidemiology was
incorporated independently in the 1980s. In Colombia, and
in a somewhat similar fashion in Argentina and Uruguay,
the epidemiological focus in the veterinary syllabus was
covered as a part of the subjects of infectious diseases or
microbiology and public health. Between the 1960s and
the 1990s epidemiology was gradually incorporated as an
independent subject. The development of the epidemio-
logical area in the training of professionals was strong in
the Colombian Institute of Agriculture and Livestock (ICA)
and in the Technical Institute of Agriculture and Livestock
(INTA) in Argentina.
In L.Am universities, the veterinary curricula, as those
in developed countries, have a medical emphasis on
individual animals, and more specifically in recent years in
the medicine of small animals. In L.Am countries the
emphasis in the first half of the 20th Century was oriented
towards animal production and veterinary public health.
In the last 25 years we have begun to see a major emphasis
on small animal clinics, than in large animals.
In other universities, the incorporation of epidemiology
began in the 90s, with the arrival of academics trained, in
general, in North American, European and also L.Am
universities.
The end of the 1960s saw the arrival in L.Am of the
first Masters graduates in Preventive Veterinary Medi-
cine from the USA, and during the 1970s the graduates of
the advanced postgraduate courses in Animal Health
Planning, a course coordinated by the Argentine engineer
Osvaldo Fernandez-Balmaceda of the Pan American
Centre of Zoonosis (CEPANZO) PAHO/WHO. This enriched
the State animal health projects by incorporating proper
use of statistics, epidemiological methodologies of
analysis, economic evaluations and educational strate-
gies for health. At the end of the 1970s and the beginning
of the 1980s, epidemiology courses coordinated by Dr.
Felix Rosenberg were also offered through the Pan
American Centre of Foot and Mouth Disease (PANAF-
TOSA)
With regards to postgraduate courses in the University
of Chile, the subject of epidemiology was incorporated into
the Masters in Animal Pathology beginning in 1972. In the
1980s, the Masters in Preventive Animal Medicine
included descriptive epidemiology, analysis and para-
metric and non-parametric statistics, along with Admin-
istration and Economy. In the case of Mexico, the subject of
epidemiology first appeared independently in the study
programs of the Department of Postgraduate Studies in
1973. In Argentina, the Postgraduate degree and Advanced
Certificate in Epidemiology date from the 1980s to 1990s.
In Brazil, the oldest veterinary faculties also follow this
pattern.
The themes that have been developed within graduate-
level epidemiology programs in L. Am. are fairly conven-
tional and similar to one another. They may contain a
change of name or order but they tend to cover: health and
disease from the population perspective; prevention,
control and eradication of disease in animal populations;
risk and risk analysis; sampling and sampling design;
epidemiological studies; diagnostic tests; epidemiological
surveillance; and health economics.
There is still a pending task in the teaching of
veterinary epidemiology in L.Am universities and this is
to define and agree upon the minimum range of
competences required in order to offer the L.Amcountries
the security needed with regards professional work in the
sector. In the same sense, the veterinary services in
Epidemiology are becoming more and more important
globally. Due to this, universities have to prepare
professionals for the State and private sector that give
guarantees to all the business partners in their respective
countries. They should have the best trained human
resources and sufficient financial resources to carry out
their activities, thus retaining the professionals with
technical competences and leadership.
On the other hand, it is necessary to emphasize the
focus of ‘‘One Medicine’’ methodologies for governmental
programs to help such animal production industries as
salmon, poultry and pigs and the same approach must be
followed in all the Veterinary Medicine curricula.
6. Profile of a professor of epidemiology in Latin America
In general, the profile of a Professor of Epidemiology in
L.Am has followed that of their own teachers from public
health, biostatistics or infectious diseases, when studying
to obtain degrees and titles in their own countries. They
have also received the influence of professors from
universities in developed countries carrying out research
and case studies relevant to the sanitary conditions in their
own countries.
In this way they have created a database of background
information on the application of concepts and epidemio-
logical methodologies, to which the graduate dissertations
and Master’s and Doctoral thesis with which disciples have
been created can be added. The younger academics have
obtained their academic degrees in foreign universities or
in their own countries. They have taken this path using the
skills their teachers helped them develop whilst adding
their individual abilities and curiosity. Incorporating a new
topic into a study programis no easy task given that time is
scarce and the requirements of the other subjects are
greater than those available, above all if there is no clear
graduate profile and clearly defined desired competences.
In the case of the study programs in veterinary medicine in
L.Am, the majority of them have included components of
animal science and public health.
What best characterizes a Professor of Epidemiology in
Latin America is curiosity and the challenge of being a
pioneer of a newway of thinking about health and disease,
often to the incomprehension of their own colleagues. At
the same time, trying to open a new frontier obliges them
to have skills in various dimensions of knowledge such as
veterinary medicine, statistics, animal sciences, compu-
ters, data management, economics, social sciences, demo-
graphy and other topics, and, as a result, the need to
integrate themselves into academic and professional
teams. Moreover, they need a special vocation for research
and social projection.
S.P. Urcelay / Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92 (2009) 288–295 293
With regard to skills, it is recommended that they
have a solid training in quantitative methodologies. They
need practical experience in at least one concrete
veterinary activity that allows them to fluently exem-
plify the application of epidemiological concepts. They
should develop research, whenever possible with grad-
uates and thesis students, in a way that helps them learn
about the creation of alternative analysis together. They
also need to establish good contacts with the farming
sector and the sanitary service sector so that they have a
wide field for research and exchange with real-life
situations.
It is also useful to have a good stock of experiences to
motivate these students beyond the subject matter due to
the force of their professor’s personality. The university
professor should have characteristics that are well
expressed by Neghme (1986) and some of these should
be asked for from the epidemiology professors, in
particular the aim of encouraging students to carry out
postgraduate and advanced study in epidemiology.
The professor should make students feel that they are
responsible for their education beyond the subject matter,
and they should understand that the professor is
transmitting a new way of thinking that complements
the specific training. In the University of Chile, work has
been done in incorporating other professionals in topics
related to epidemiology and in successful strategies for
controlling disease in the country.
The Professor of Epidemiology should try to gently
enchant his students with the topics of epidemiology, and
in order to do this he should know about the concerns of
the students, what they are looking for and what they
expect from the teaching, in order to give them the tools
that will allow them to start a journey in the search of
clarification of their doubts or to point them in the right
direction.
Ideally, the profile of a teacher of epidemiology should
include the qualities of dreamer, and explorer of new
theme worlds, combined with simplicity and openness,
given that the teacher’s knowledge should transcend
worlds and be enriched by what takes place outside the
bounds of their geographic or university frontiers.
Professors of Epidemiology also should have a wide
cultural knowledge that allows them a holistic vision of
the topics, given that this helps to orientate the multi-
disciplinary teams with their way of thinking.
We have learnt from David Hird, apart from the many
achievements already mentioned, his sense of humanity,
generosity, humility and above all his authenticity and
sobriety. His love of the truth is present in all his actions,
without abandonment. Moreover, his great sense of humor
which he blended with the particular sense of humor of the
Latin Americans, is a great help for the teaching that he
offered in almost all its countries, fromMexico to Chile and
Argentina, and that we hope he continues to offer us in the
future.
7. Conflict of interest statement
Dr. Santiago Urcelay does not have a financial or
personal relationship with other people or organizations
that could inappropriately influence or bias the paper
entitled ‘‘Veterinary Epidemiology in Latin America’’.
Acknowledgements
I want to thank to all L.Am veterinarians who have
devoted their lives to veterinary epidemiology. It is the
most exciting of the working themes in veterinary sciences
‘‘building roads whilst are walking on them’’ as Machado’s
poet said, giving directions to the young veterinarians
responsible to project this inheritance. I want to especially
recognize my friends who supported this presentation:
Drs. Luis Carlos Villamil (Colombia), Juan Garza Ramos
(Me´ xico), Jorge Ca´ rdenas (Me´ xico), Gustavo Monti (Argen-
tina-Chile), Rau´ l Vargas (Me´ xico), Alejandro Larriestra
(Argentina), Herna´ n Rojas (Chile), Armando Gonza´ lez
(Peru´ ), Jaime Romero (Colombia-Peru´ )), Julio Pinto (Chile),
He´ ctor Tarabla (Argentina), Alfredo Nader (Argentina),
Vitor Gonzalves (Brazil), Gabriel Arriagada (Chile), Cristo-
pher Hamilton-West (Chile), and Fernando Nun˜ez (Chile).
Appendix A. Questionnaire
What do you consider the most important influences on
the veterinary epidemiological focus in your country?
(a) From a public health perspective
(b) From an animal health perspective
When was veterinary epidemiology incorporated into the
study programs in the curriculum of veterinary medicine in
your country’s universities?
Which are the most important themes incorporated into
veterinary epidemiology study programs?
When were the postgraduate and post title activities in
veterinary epidemiology initiated in your universities?
What is the profile for a Professor of Epidemiology,
and what knowledge/abilities/experience can reinforce this
profile?
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