If you have animal or veterinary questions, UC Davis experts have answers. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has launched a Q&A series on Instagram similar to reddit’s “Ask Me Anything” format, and will be covering a variety of topics. Naturally, the series has devoted its first two installments to all things COVID-19.
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In Monday’s episode, One Health Institute’s Christine Kreuder Johnson answers “What is veterinary medicine's role at the forefront of #COVID19?”
As a professor of epidemiology and ecosystem health, Johnson addresses questions like:
- What could have happened to prevent this zoonotic disease?
- Why are veterinarians relevant to this pandemic?
- What can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?
As far as the importance of veterinarians in this pandemic, Johnson pointed out they are working on everything from understanding the epidemiology and pathology of COVID-19 to developing treatments and vaccines for this new disease.
Veterinarians are also well-suited to work on interdisciplinary teams and modeling that can help public health professionals know what to expect in this pandemic.
An episode last week featured Jane Sykes, a professor of medicine and epidemiology and chief veterinary medical officer of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, and One Health Institute associate director and virologist Brian Bird. They discussed pets, wildlife and COVID-19.
Next up, Liz Stelow, an animal behaviorist, tackles the topic of how your pet’s behavior may be impacted by shelter-in-place policies.