We have had several cases of disease outbreaks in humans, and with its emergence, strong and competent medical agencies have begun to look for ways to have it controlled. As much as humans are able to work so hard to save ourselves and prevent the complete destruction of mankind, we need to also understand that, our best friends and animals in general, stand a great chance of being exposed to outbreaks that will significantly affect them as well.
We say there is an outbreak of a disease when there is a great increase in the occurrence of disease beyond the normal level. Managing animal welfare when there is an outbreak includes the classification of the unique states that an animal could be during an epidemic, and the categorizing of animal welfare that could be compromised.
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In order for an outbreak to occur, there has to be an agent, a susceptible host, and a transmission means, from an infected host to subsequent susceptible hosts. Any of these factors I will be listing shortly could significantly contribute to the occurrence of an outbreak;
- When there is an increase in exposure to the agent.
- When there is an increase in the infectivity/virulence of the agent.
- When agents are exposed to naive hosts.
- When transmission is enhanced.
- When there is an increase in host exposure.
- When there is a change in the susceptibility of the host to the agents.
- When new portals of entry are introduced.
Of course, animals that are already infected will require urgent veterinary medical attention during an outbreak, this medical attention is to help create redemption from the pain felt at the moment, Aside from the pain felt, the animal could also sustain injury, and then treat the injury in itself.
The response options to an outbreak are; should the animal be treated, culled, or left to recover on its own, questions about vaccination for healthy animals also pop up. A common way that has been used for the elimination of the disease, is often through depopulation of all animals that have tested positive for the disease. Although this approach is effective in controlling small outbreaks caused by infectious diseases, its effectiveness however questionable about it, this approach is questionable or humane especially when it is on a large scale.
On farmland, farmers are completely responsible for the health of their livestock, and at some point, the government may need to step in in order to help with the prevention of the spread of the disease. With the government getting involved with the safety of animal health, it becomes possible for a new animal disease to be identified, the cause of the animal disease, and the most important thing, which is to take immediate action in the event of an outbreak of an infectious animal disease.
Eradication of a disease has been the major goal of a disease control program, but it is not always an achievable goal. In some situations, I believe that more emphasis should be placed on the reduction of health and economic impact of the disease.
Vaccination is a good control option for several diseases, which aligns with the country's effective disease control program. But, vaccination on its own will not help to achieve the result desired except, it is part of an integrated control strategy that utilizes a combination of control measures.
In the case where vaccination as a control option is applied, these things need to be put into serious consideration; the quality of the vaccine, its role, the available method of delivery of the vaccine, and certainly, the delivery of the vaccine.
References.
https://www.government.nl/topics/animal-diseases/preventing-animal-diseases
https://rr-asia.woah.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/manual_outbreak-investigation.pdf