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Veterinary researcher concerned about APHIS cuts

A research veterinarian is concerned about the loss of federal animal health experts due to downsizing.

Dr. Keith Poulsen with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tells Brownfield federal efforts to decrease spending have noticeable side effects. “USDA lost upwards of 23-25 percent of their total workforce, and when you think about that in a federal agency, that is 100-110 thousand people. That’s an enormous impact.”

Poulsen says the departures at USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or APHIS have taken a larger percentage of veterinarians. “When we think about our area veterinarians-in-charge, there’s twenty-three of them that cover the United States along with their territories. More than half of them have left from early retirement, and you know, that’s a pretty big impact to be able to get things through.”

Poulsen says veterinarians are usually the APHIS program directors for things like rabies control and the electronic medical records service.  He says along with losing a lot of senior expertise, he’s concerned about federal staffing should another animal disease outbreak occur. “It’s not just influenza. We need to make sure that we don’t get foot and mouth disease, we don’t see new other viruses come through or bacterial issues like brucelosis come back because we just don’t have the infrastructure left to do it anymore.”

Poulsen says the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic lab is staffed and ready to work with their federal and local partners.  He says some states are offering jobs to the displaced federal workers.

Poulsen says USDA cuts and risks like avian influenza and New World Screw Worm are one more reason for farms to step up their biosecurity efforts.