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Veterinary surgeon’s varied career underlines importance of public health work

Posted Yesterday

A Veterinary Surgeon who was involved in the regulatory response to the world’s largest recorded listeriosis outbreak has underlined the importance of veterinary public health and its role in protecting people. 

Azeemah Parker, who leads the third year Veterinary Public Health and State Veterinary Medicine module at the , shared her career journey in the run up to World Veterinary Day, which will be held this year on Saturday, April 25.  

The focus of this year’s day is , and Azeemah – who has worked in clinical practice, government veterinary work, as an official veterinarian , and academia - believes every single vet has a role to play in protecting public health. 

Her career began in South Africa, after graduating she completed a year of compulsory community veterinary service, working in rural mixed practice. 

Azeemah then took a role as Chief State Veterinarian in the Veterinary International Trade Facilitation division for the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, working on export certification, auditing food establishments, overseeing hygiene, traceability and compliance requirements, policy development and supporting the safe trade of animals and animal products. 

She added: “What really changed the way I saw the role, though, was the listeriosis outbreak in South Africa in 2017–2018, which remains the largest recorded listeriosis outbreak in the world. More than 200 people lost their lives. It showed very clearly how important food safety and veterinary involvement are, and how preventable failures in the food system can have devastating consequences.  

“What affected me most was that many of the people who died were from poorer communities, because the contaminated product was an inexpensive processed meat that many families relied on as an affordable source of protein. That made the issue feel very real and reinforced for me that veterinary public health is not only about regulation and trade, but also about protecting people, especially the most vulnerable. 

“That role completely changed the direction of my career and was a major reason why I became so passionate about food safety, veterinary public health and One Health.” 

This formative experience shaped Azeemah’s views, and she is now keen to use her work as an academic to underscore to HKVS students exactly how important public health work can be. 

She added: “I think it is incredibly important that veterinary students have a good understanding of veterinary public health, because in many ways every vet is a public health vet. Whether you work in equine practice, small animal, farm animal or any other area of the profession, you are always dealing with issues that can affect animal health, human health and environmental health. 

“Veterinarians need to be aware of things such as zoonotic disease, animal welfare, food safety, biosecurity and environmental impacts. These aspects are inherently linked and should not be considered in isolation.

"Even in a small animal clinic, for example, you may see imported animals or animals that have travelled, so you need to be alert to risks such as rabies and other zoonotic diseases. In the bigger picture, that is really what veterinary public health comes down to: understanding how animal health connects to wider risks for people and the environment.” 

Read more about Azeemah's career in this blog.