Veterinary doctors, also known as Veterinarians or Veterinary surgeons are trained to detect, diagnose, treat, prevent and control diseases in animals. In so doing, they have a duty to prevent the human population from acquiring some diseases that can come from animals. There are many diseases that humans can acquire from animals as a result of the interaction of humans and animals or animal products like meat, milk, eggs, skins, hides and wool. Many of these diseases can exhibit severe sickness that is difficult to treat and most of them lead to death.

In this article, as Uganda joins the rest of the world in Rakai to mark World Veterinary Day, I will briefly discuss at least seven diseases or groups of diseases that are essentially diseases of animals but commonly jump into the human population. The role of the Veterinary doctor in preventing these diseases in humans will also be elucidated.

Rabies: Rabies is a viral disease of the nervous system that is spread to humans mainly through the bite of an rabid dog. It affects all mammals, so humans can get it from any other infected animal including cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. As in animals, death is 100% certain in humans once clinical signs appear. Vaccination of dogs is essential for the prevention of rabies in the human population. Veterinary doctors and paravets have to work tooth and nail to vaccinate as many dogs as possible. The more dogs are vaccinated in commmunity, the less incidences of human infections in that community. There is also a vaccine for people at high risk of getting rabies disease.