“Veterinary practitioners are the cornerstone of foreign animal disease (FAD) surveillance in the United States,” said Eileen Ostlund, DVM, PhD, head of the equine and ovine viruses section at the Diagnostic Virology Laboratory, National Veterinary Services Laboratories, in Ames, Iowa, while she was speaking at the Western Veterinary Conference. “Reporting suspicious lesions or unusual clinical signs is the first step in any investigation.

“When I was in practice, I had no idea this system existed,” she commented during the Feb. 15-19 convention in Las Vegas, Nev. “But there are more than 200 FAD investigations (FADI) per year–I get notifications almost every day. The USDA Veterinary Services has rapid response capabilities for FADI through specially trained FAD diagnosticians and the federal diagnostic laboratories. Accurate surveillance for foreign and emerging animal diseases is critical in monitoring the health status of U.S. horses, and in facilitating international movement of horses.”

Ostlund developed the Western States presentation with Brian McCluskey, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVPM, dairy specialist and analytical epidemiologist with the Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. They described FAD and endemic/domestic diseases, and explained the role of private veterinarians and USDA Veterinary Services in a FADI