More vets needed if FMD enters Australia

Australia would need more mixed practice vets to respond to a significant outbreak of FMD, says a Charles Sturt University professor.

Australia’s capacity to respond to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease could be hamstrung by a shortage of mixed practice vets.

Associate Professor in veterinary epidemiology and public health at Charles Sturt University’s School of Animal and Veterinary science Marta Hernández-Jover said the veterinary profession was skewed towards companion animals.

“That could potentially mean that if we had to respond to a significant outbreak of foot and mouth disease, we could struggle on the ground,” she said.

Dr Hernandez-Jover said the majority of students who graduated from the regional university did specialise in mixed practice, or large and small animals, but the university’s 160 annual cohort of graduates would not be enough to respond to the need.

“If foot and mouth is detected early, we will have (the) capacity, alongside vets in government agencies and private vets. I can comfortably say we will have capacity. But if we don’t detect it early, and the virus spreads earlier than we like, we will need a lot on the ground,” she said.

There are almost 14,000 vets registered in Australia, according to the Australian Veterinary Association’s 2021 workforce survey.

Of the 3456 who participated in the AVA survey, 2762 were working in clinical practice, just over 6 per cent worked primarily with livestock, with 57.2 per cent working in small animal practice and 17.8 per cent working in mixed animal practice with ‘some’ large animals.

Dr Hernandez-Jover said there was a national shortage of vets, which could compound the problem.

However, AVA president Bronwyn Orr said most vets became general practice vets, capable of treating large and small animals.

“Everyone who graduates from vet school does a huge amount of medicine and disease detection,” she said, as well as medical training specifically for cattle, sheep, horses and goats.

The AVA has requested assistance from the federal government to train and upskill vets in the event of a disease outbreak.