Fair Day

The College of Veterinary Medicine's exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair spotlights the role veterinarians play in safeguarding human health.

By Andrew Bacskai

“Eeeeew!” A teenage girl, nose upturned in disgust, is examining Petri dishes that contain bacteria from hands before and after washing. Also displayed were pictures of common disease-carrying bacteria such as E. coli, Listeria, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella. These grotesquely oversized bacteria were part of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s contribution to the “Improving the Health of the Environment, the Economy and U” exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair.

The teen motioned to her friend to gaze up close at the enlarged gross-outs. The friend, perhaps hoping to preserve her appetite for Fair fare, declined. “I don’t even want to look at that,” she grumbled.

Then, a mother and daughter approached the exhibit. The attendant instructed the girl to scrub her hands with a special gel and gave her a cloth to wipe her hands clean. Next, the attendant prepared to guide a fluorescent light over the girl’s hands to illuminate the areas where dirt and germs still resided. “Now we’ll see if we’re going to share the cheese curds,” her mother quipped.

Behind the mother-daughter pair, another mother called to her young son. “Come here,” she instructed. “I’m going to show you why I make you wash your hands!”

Those words were sweet music to the ears of Jeff Bender, a veterinarian who also teaches in the School of Public Health. “Several years ago,” he says, “I don’t think you would have heard people talking about hand washing at all.”

Proper hand washing, Bender explains, establishes a strong line of defense against the spread of infection, foodborne or otherwise. Yet even though Bender believes the public has become more aware of the importance of hand washing, “we probably don’t wash our hands enough.” People miss critical opportunities to minimize the risks of bacterial or viral transmission.

Herein lies a key connection between veterinary medicine and public health. New “bugs,” such as E. coli O157 and Cryptosporidium have emerged in just the past quarter century and been linked to animal contact. In addition, the United States has gradually transformed from an agrarian society to a more urban society, so people generally are exposed less to these bugs and resistance is reduced.

When people do interact with animals, it commonly occurs in less traditional settings, such as petting zoos and fairs. “With these changes in environment come potential additional exposures, especially to susceptible populations, which most often are children,” Bender says.

Meanwhile, many of this decade’s emerging diseases, including Monkey Pox, West Nile Virus, and avian influenza, all have animal hosts.

Consequently, protecting human health falls heavily on the shoulders of veterinarians, whether they’re ensuring the health of the animals entering the food supply, vaccinating domestic animals for rabies and other human threats, or working with public health officials to thwart the spread of menaces such as West Nile Virus.

“There needs to be strong collaboration between veterinarians, physicians, and public health professionals to identify these problems quickly, recognizing that bacteria, funguses, viruses evolve and sometimes become more pathogenic. And as a result, they may have a direct impact on people,” Bender says.

But not today for the young fairgoer, whose hands checked out clean. Her mother, visibly pleased, escorts the girl out of the University of Minnesota building and steers her, presumably, in the direction of the nearest cheese curd vendor.