Dear reader,
World Veterinary Day was instigated by the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2000 to be celebrated annually on the last Saturday of April. The selected theme for this year's event was “Vaccination to prevent and protect.” As stated by the WVA: “The discovery of disease prevention through vaccination is one of the greatest scientific achievements. Vaccines are very valuable tools to stop the spread of a large number of transmissible diseases that threaten the health and welfare of animals and people. Vaccination of animals helps people to protect their livestock and their companion animals, as well as themselves in case of zoonotic diseases. Through well organised campaigns, vaccination contributes to the eradication of diseases from certain areas and even from the world.” As early as 1796, the British physician Jenner tested his hypothesis that use of cowpox (a disease similar to human smallpox, but much less virulent) material as a “vaccine” in man protected people from smallpox. In 1979, the World Health Organization declared smallpox an eradicated disease. Obviously this first campaign was not that well organised as it took almost two centuries for smallpox to be eradicated.
According to the WVA: “A successful vaccination campaign depends mainly on the use of high quality vaccines, appropriate infrastructure to ensure the rapid and safe delivery of vaccines, monitoring of vaccinated flocks, movement control of animals, and adequate financial resources. The veterinary profession, through effective and efficient Veterinary Services, is crucial for the success of vaccination in animal health.” The predominant prerequisites for the success of vaccination in animal health are state-of-the-art research and its dissemination within the veterinary community.
Surprisingly enough, this issue of Veterinary Quarterly is free of contributions devoted to vaccination. However, this topic has been addressed in several key articles over the last year in Veterinary Quarterly. In celebration of the selected theme for this year's World Veterinary Day, Taylor & Francis is offering free access to a selection of recent key articles dealing with vaccination from journals in our Veterinary Science portfolio. Take the opportunity to share recent knowledge on vaccination in the field of veterinary science today!