COLUMBIA — The U.S. Animal Health Association, born of cattle disease crisis more than a century ago, has chosen South Carolina’s state veterinarian to lead the 1,100-member organization into the future.
Boyd Parr, director of Clemson University Livestock-Poultry Health, oversees the state agency responsible for protecting the health of animals and consumers through control of disease and inspection of meat and poultry products.
His selection as Animal Health Association president-elect last fall marked the second half of a six-year term on the organization’s executive committee. Parr will succeed Dr. David Schmidt of Iowa as president this October and preside over the national association of animal health professionals for a year.
“It’s a great honor to work with my counterparts across the nation and internationally,” Parr said. “This exchange of ideas is crucial as we face the challenges of protecting animal and human health in an increasingly mobile and rapidly changing environment.”
The U.S. Animal Health Association was born of such need in 1897 during the historic outbreak of Texas cattle fever, a disease that triggers malaria-like symptoms in the animals it infects. Caused by infection from a tiny protozoan that was spread through the Western cattle drives of the late 19th century, Texas cattle fever led to passage of some of the first laws on animal migration for public health and animal health-related reasons.
In South Carolina, Parr’s agency guards against precisely such dangers. The role of Clemson Livestock-Poultry Health is to protect animal health through control of diseases in livestock and poultry and to protect the health of consumers. It serves as the state’s animal health authority, meat and poultry inspection department, and veterinary diagnostic center.
“Dr. Parr’s elevation to this position is an indication of the esteem to which he and Clemson Livestock-Poultry Health are held by their peers,” said George Askew, Clemson vice president for Public Service and Agriculture. “It is a distinction that is especially important in light of the significant threats to animal health that the agriculture industry faces today when sharing current information among states is essential to improving animal health across the country.”
Headquartered in St. Joseph, Missouri, the association has served as the nation’s animal health forum for more than a century, helping coordinate the flow of information about emerging diseases, disease eradication, food safety, public health, animal welfare, international trade and emergency preparedness, response and recovery. Its objective is to prevent, control and eliminate livestock diseases that cost ranchers, farmers and consumers approximately $1 billion per year.
Its members are animal health officials with state and federal agencies, companies and allied organizations serving health, technical and consumer markets. It works with governments, universities, veterinarians, livestock producers, national livestock and poultry organizations, research scientists, the Extension service and several foreign countries to control livestock diseases in the United States.
“It’s critical that we continue develop solutions to animal health-related issues based on science, new information and methods,” Parr said. “The USAHA helps us share this information and fosters our ability to reach consensus as we develop methods that may be incorporated into laws, regulations, policy and programs.
“This is a challenging time in our field, but also an exciting one,” he said. “I’m privileged to be able to serve in this role with the USAHA, especially at this time.”