Page 3 - Clinical Connections - Autumn 2020

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
From a Virus to a Dynamic Profession that Helped Shape the Modern World
An infectious viral disease that was destabilising society was a significant driver in the emergence of the modern veterinary profession. The world’s first veterinary school, in the French city of Lyon, was established
in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat, after he had witnessed the devastation caused by ‘cattle plague’ (rinderpest) to the national cattle herds of France and the equally devastating impact the disease had on France itself. Ruminant death rates during rinderpest outbreaks have approached 100% in immunologically naïve populations.
Bourgelat, who was trained as a barrister,
also had a serious interest in horses. His
equestrian affiliations and enthusiasm to help
ailing animals combined with his legal mind’s recognition of the importance of evidence-based hypotheses, drove him towards developing an evidence-based medical profession for animals, drawing on natural history, chemistry and comparative anatomy. His ambition to develop a scientifically informed veterinary profession preceded the rinderpest crisis but, once he had observed the impact of the disease, Bourgelat sought a remedy and co-founded the Lyon school.
Once the school was established, Bourgelat was able to send students out in a bid to combat the disease. These cohorts
of enthusiastic veterinary missionaries were effective, and
the epidemic was curtailed. In lieu of a vaccine at that point, evidence-based knowledge of good animal husbandry, including infection control, are likely to have been key factors in their success. Just as awareness of good hygiene, social distancing and mask wearing have been key to suppressing the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections since its arrival in late 2019.
The value of Bourgelat’s progressive vision was recognised and a second veterinary school in France was followed, in 1791, by the first veterinary school in the English-speaking world – now known as The Royal Veterinary College. Charles Benoit Vial de St Bel of the Lyon school was the first principal of the new British institution.
The rest, as they say, is history. The professional veterinary world expanded within Britain, leading to a wealth of new veterinary institutions, treatments for an ever-increasing spectrum of animals, scientific discoveries that filtered into human medicine and an ever more complex culture of veterinary practices up and down the country. And all in the context of massive social change, the fortunes of political parties rising and
falling, booming and crashing economies and, significantly, all starting with a pesky virus.
So while no doubt many veterinary colleagues out there are feeling the strain
of this year’s Covid crisis, and we are all bracing ourselves for the winter, it might be worthwhile taking a moment to step back and reflect on how far the veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing professions have come. And how veterinary clinicians and scientists have been at the heart of a shift from irrationality, ignorance and confusion
to rationality and improvements in public knowledge about disease. There is always further to go but we have made a pretty
good start! The profession evolved during
turbulence and has gathered and shared new insights, skills and knowledge at every step of the way.
Like everyone, we have to keep pushing on, despite the chaos, confusion and limitations imposed by the pandemic, and the articles in Clinical Connections reflect that. The cover article is about developments in ophthalmology, which allow us to offer a greater range of treatments to our small animal and equine referral patients. We have a double-page article on pages 6 and 7 devoted to oncology. Those pages cover developments within our Oncology Service and an interesting case study about a dog with a lung tumour, which was successfully treated by our transdisciplinary approach.
Other case studies you might find interesting include one concerning a portosystemic shunt (page 5), one about stem cell treatment of an equine tendon injury (page 8) and one about a dog that swallowed his sibling’s phenobarbitone (page 10).
So many of our referral cases are supported by our Transfusion Medicine Service, which Charlotte Russo, our Head Transfusion Medicine RVN, discusses in an article on page 9. Charlotte outlines recent developments within the service and looks to the future and forthcoming published material coming out of the team.
I hope you can take a few minutes to read our articles and also take a moment to reflect on the incredible progress the veterinary profession has made over the centuries and how, whatever happens, we always come through with new insights and ways to help not only our patients but also society in general.
Professor David Church, Deputy Principal and Acting Vice Principal (Clinical Affairs)
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