Healthcare professionals are looking to work with veterinarians and the livestock industry in South Dakota to prevent the spread of human-animal, or zoonotic diseases.
Dr. Susan Anderson is Director of the Frontier and Rural Medicine program at the University of South Dakota. She says there is communication between professions, but in a state where cattle outnumber humans five to one there is room for improvement.
The USD Sanford School of Medicine received a $200,000, two-year grant from the Bush Foundation to increase communication. Anderson says the money will be used to develop an already existing workgroup called South Dakota One Health.
Exact plans to improve communication haven’t been laid out yet. Anderson says South Dakota One Health will use the grant to find out what works best.
