The COVID pandemic has affected us all and we need to consider the impact on our clients. Would the COVID pandemic be better managed if vets were in charge? Many of the mistakes made are very basic and if population veterinarians had been consulted a different outcome could have been assured (pp6–7). But, is it good riddance to 2020? Maybe not! 2020 has taught us to appreciate each other more and be more supportive on a practice, local, national and ultimately global level. We are all in this together and this may bring us closer, caring for the whole planet. It is not the first ‘plague’ and it is our generation's attempts to resolve the situation that will be remembered in the future.
Living in paradise, in Australia, the article in this issue (pp26–29) on last year's devastating fire season and its impact on the wildlife, farming, clients, friends and the veterinary profession provides lessons we all need to comprehend. Being prepared for disaster scenarios is a subject most of us will not have taken into consideration in our professional lives. That is until last January, when SARS-CoV-2 raised itself into a pandemic. It is great to note that everywhere in the world, farmers and production animal veterinarians have been recognised as essential personnel!
Being remote from our clients throws up challenges. Education and farmer meetings are key to maintaining contact with clients and their animals, as discussed in Lisa Morgan's article (pp41–45). Organising, running and presenting in front of clients, can be nerve wracking and we generally think the clients will be not interested. But education is the most cost-effective route to good health in our production animals. For young veterinarians it is a great way to gain your clients' confidence. Having to learn to communicate through computer screens, is a challenge the profession has risen to. For myself, development of virtual farm tours has been a great way to continue the discussion with the farm staff in the care and management of the animals' health and wellbeing.
My clients for many years have contacted myself and colleagues to look after their animals' health, rather than specifically treating their diseases and ailments. This way we can look after not only the 5% of animals that might get sick, but also provide more enrichment into the lives of the 95% that are apparently healthy. Managing health rather than treating disease is a focus of many of the articles in this issue of UK-Vet Livestock. To some, being more remote from our clients allows us to investigate the ‘iceberg’ diseases which are becoming increasingly significant as a serious cause of production loss. The paper on caprine iceberg diseases focuses on caprine arthritis encephalitis, Johne's disease and caseous lymphadenitis (pp46–49). But the paper is relevant to all population animal veterinarians and in this time of lockdowns, concentrating on methods and investigations into these more insidious problems can be very rewarding. There are still traditional problems, such as bovine respiratory disease (pp8–14), bovine viral diarrhoea (p32) and chronic mastitis (pp34–36); despite intensive medicine treatments these conditions remain a problem and are often resistant to traditional treatments. A more holistic approach through health management offers a different approach to understanding and reducing the production impact of such diseases.
This holistic approach extends beyond the production animal, into understanding the management of the whole farm. For example, who has considered the viability of dung flora and the use of our pesticides and other chemicals on this flora (pp15–25)? While medicines have been tested for their environmental impact, the veterinarian needs to be willing to look at the environmental impacts over long time frames and remain open minded to evidence that the ecology is being negatively impacted. This provides a whole new opportunity for the veterinarian to be an advocate for the farming system (p37) and a voice for change. A voice the farmers will also respect.