Measuring mental ill-health in the veterinary industry: A systematic review

Many instruments have been developed to examine and quantify symptoms of psychopathology. The main objective of this systematic review was to examine the instrument choice employed to measure mental ill-health in professionals working in the veterinary industry and reporting of psychometric testing of these instruments by researchers. 78 papers were reviewed. A total of 73 different instruments used to measure 19 symptoms of mental ill-health were identified. Quality assessment of included papers indicated 9 were low, 63 were moderate, and 6 were high quality. Reliability testing was conducted and reported in 36 papers and validity testing was reported in 23 papers. There is considerable heterogeneity in instrument choice measuring symptoms of mental ill-health in this population and inconsistency in conducting and reporting psychometric testing of instruments across studies. Adopting commonly employed instruments that yield high quality data in psychometric testing of instruments would be beneficial at advancing understanding in this field.

Mental Health Impact of Mass Depopulation of Swine on Veterinarians During COVID-19 Infrastructure Breakdown

This study was designed to assess the mental health of swine veterinarians involved with mass depopulation events related to COVID-19 and compare them to swine veterinarians not involved in mass depopulation. Additionally, we assessed the well being, quality of life, psychological distress, burnout, and resilience in veterinarians who conducted depopulation events and the potential impact of depopulation methods on these factors. Finally, we identified coping methods utilized by swine veterinarians for improved well being. The study involved the distribution of an anonymous online survey, available December 2020 to January 2021, to swine veterinarians practicing in the United States. A total of 134 responses were analyzed. Stress related to the depopulation effort was predominantly an outcome of two factors: ethics of care (people and pigs) and perception of others (public, colleagues, family, friends, neighbors). Depopulation involvement was associated with burnout (p = 0.001). The depopulation method utilized significantly impacted depopulation distress (p = 0.007), perception of others (p < 0.001), and burnout (p < 0.001). Nearly one-third (29%) of all participants reported moderate levels of burnout. Based on these results, the call to action is to enhance the availability and visibility of existing mental health services and take necessary steps to destigmatize mental health. Additionally, it is critical to support the development of mental health programs for swine veterinarians through education, training, research, and transparent communication.

African Swine Fever Epidemiology and Control

African swine fever is a devastating disease that can result in death in almost all infected pigs. The continuing spread of African swine fever from Africa to Europe and recently to the high-pig production countries of China and others in Southeast Asia threatens global pork production and food security. The African swine fever virus is an unusual complex DNA virus and is not related to other viruses. This has presented challenges for vaccine development, and currently none is available. The virus is extremely well adapted to replicate in its hosts in the sylvatic cycle in East and South Africa. Its spread to other regions, with different wildlife hosts, climatic conditions, and pig production systems, has revealed unexpected epidemiological scenarios and different challenges for control. Here we review the epidemiology of African swine fever in these different scenarios and methods used for control. We also discuss progress toward vaccine development and research priorities to better understand this complex disease and improve control.

Timeliness of vesicular disease notification system in Brazilian foot-and-mouth disease surveillance programme

Animal health surveillance programmes should be reliable and informative to ensure their effective implementation. As such, the regular assessment of those aiming to demonstrate the absence of disease, as well as the ability to detect outbreaks on time, is of vital importance. Several criteria make it possible to assess the performance of surveillance systems, including timeliness, which represents the speed between steps in a surveillance system. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the variability in the timeliness, within and between states, of the surveillance programme of the Brazilian Veterinary Services (BVS) for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), for the notification of vesicular disease. A total of 14 years (2004-2017) of data relating to vesicular syndromes from the Brazilian Continental Information and Surveillance System (SivCont) were included. A categorical variable was created with four classes to group the notified vesicular processes in the SivCont, according to two criteria, the similarity of the symptoms of the diseases reported with FMD and aetiology (viral, bacterial, fungal and non-infectious). The three timeliness values (TL-1, TL-2 and TL-3) related to different portions of the FMD surveillance system were analysed as a response in a generalized linear model in which the states of Brazil were the explanatory variables. The analyses were performed separately for each notification class (FMD, vesicular stomatitis, similar symptoms and similar non-infectious symptoms) and included comparisons within and between states. The study results provide an understanding and evaluation of the timeliness of the Brazilian FMD surveillance system, thereby providing a base of knowledge from which involved agents and decision-makers can evaluate BVS and reinforce surveillance measures in the states with poorer timeliness than permitted.