The role of petting zoo animals in the dissemination of disease has been widely studied, yet understanding the potential reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in these centres has not been explored in the United Kingdom (UK). To understand the carriage of AMR pathogens within petting zoos, this study aimed to identify AMR in E. coli and Staphylococcus intermedius group (SIG) isolated from faeces and skin, respectively, including selective cultures for ESBL-E. coli and methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Faecal samples and skin swabs were collected from 166 petted mammals across eight UK centres to recover E. coli and coagulase-positive staphylococci (CoPS), respectively, through enrichment culture methods, plating onto non-selective (tryptone bile-x agar, mannitol salt agar) and selective media (ESBL ChromID, mannitol salt agar with 6 mg/L oxacillin). Antimicrobial susceptibility was assessed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion, covering eight classes of antimicrobials. Antimicrobial usage records from the past 12-months were obtained from 7/8 centres. Overall, 145/166 faecal samples yielded 223 E. coli isolates, with an overall AMR prevalence of 42.6%. Thirteen E. coli isolates (from 8.5% of animals) were classified as multidrug-resistant. ESBL-producing E. coli were detected in 5/166 faecal samples. From 166 skin swabs, 84 yielded CoPS isolates, with S. aureus (n = 70), SIG (n = 13) and S. hyicus (n = 1) identified. Overall, 25.3% of SIG isolates exhibited resistance to at least one antimicrobial. Antimicrobial usage correlated positively with AMR prevalence for E. coli (p < 0.001), though was not associated with multidrug-resistance. This study demonstrates for the first time the presence of AMR within bacteria isolated from UK petting zoo animals, highlighting this reservoir of AMR bacteria.

Veterinary public health (VPH) is a critical role of veterinarians regardless of their chosen career pathway, and it is the role of VPH academics to inspire veterinary students within this essential topic. However, the alarming shortage of veterinarians has led to a significant reduction in veterinary policy makers and epidemiologists. The engagement of new graduates in public health roles is heavily influenced by their undergraduate teaching and extramural study opportunities. Worryingly, student engagement within VPH has been well documented to be poor in comparison to other subjects. As such, this study was designed to investigate what factors impacted VPH educators’ motivation. To do this, a mixed-methods survey was created and released electronically to 34 VPH academics across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. A total of 23 respondents, from nine veterinary schools spanning both countries, completed the survey. Data analysis involving both quantitative assessment and thematic analysis was undertaken. The results showed that VPH educators’ intrinsic motivation was not problematic and most ( n = 20) respondents felt motivated within their roles. However, all respondents had extrinsic issues that impacted their motivation, such as external stakeholders, curricula requirements, lack of student opportunity both regarding placement and as career options, as well as wider university issues. These themes led staff to feel undervalued in their roles, and as such highlight the areas that universities and external stakeholders need to act on to help fill the significant recruitment issues in this essential field. This study is, as far as the authors are aware, the first time globally that a VPH faculty have been asked to explore their motivation behind their teaching practices.

Background: Ensuring livestock welfare throughout the production chain, including transport, is an ethical and regulatory imperative. However, protocols to assess transport‐related welfare during routine abattoir inspections are not standardised, including antemortem (AM) inspection by an official veterinarian at UK abattoirs. This project proposes a novel unloading‐inclusive AM protocol to address potential gaps in current transport practices. Methods: An unloading‐inclusive AM protocol was designed to detect specific welfare compromises in transported livestock at a UK abattoir over one working week. Results: A total of 94 cattle/buffalo, 2508 sheep/goats and 781 pigs were observed; 1749 animals during unloading and 1634 in the lairage after unloading. Compared to only observing animals in the lairage, observing the unloading of animals significantly increased the detection of welfare compromises, especially behavioural (e.g., lameness, slipping and falling). Limitations: The focus on a single abattoir and a short observation period may limit generalisability and introduce bias. The lack of a ‘gold standard’ for welfare assessment makes validation of this protocol not possible. Conclusions: Systematically observing every animal during unloading as part of the official AM inspection protocol would improve feedback to farmers/transporters to ensure early detection and intervention in welfare concerns, ultimately enhancing animal welfare and food chain safety.

The global community is facing a challenging twenty-first century, with many disciplines not meeting society’s needs with regards to employment and retention of staff; veterinarians are no exception. Worryingly, the shortage of veterinarians within public health roles is predicted to increase within the near future. This pilot study aimed to gain a better understanding of how final-year veterinary students perceive Veterinary Public Health (VPH) at the University of Liverpool during their final-year VPH rotation. To do this, students were categorized into groups based on their stated career destinations and gender, to determine if there is a correlation between the two. We hoped to discover if the perception of VPH in terms of ‘usefulness’ and ‘importance’ changed during their final-year rotation week. A paper-based questionnaire was designed and given to students at the beginning of their rotation week to complete - Part 1 - whilst Part 2 was completed at the end of the week. In total, 172 students were surveyed across the study period, none of whom expressed a planned career pathway in public health. Overall, 83% of students’ scores for two analysed questions regarding ‘importance of VPH to the veterinary profession’ and ‘usefulness of VPH to that student’s individual career’ improved by at least one point between Monday and Friday. The largest group of students to see an increase were small-animal focused students; where 86% gave a higher score on Friday for both questions compared to Monday. No gender-specific preference was seen between participants expressing an interest in VPH-based careers, and stated gender had no statistical impact on whether a student score increased or decreased between Monday and Friday for both analysed questions.

Background: Reducing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) requires a multidisciplinary One Health approach, which necessitates buy-in from all stakeholders. In Aotearoa New Zealand, where the dairy industry is one of the largest users of antimicrobials, there are ongoing efforts to optimise antimicrobial usage (AMU) to minimise the development of AMR. These include regulations around the veterinary authorisation of the use of antibiotics by farmers without the need for a specific prescription (“the RVM process”) and programmes such as the New Zealand Veterinary Association’s antibiotic ‘Traffic Light System’. The goal of this pilot survey was to develop and trial a questionnaire to determine how much Aotearoa dairy farmers understand about One Health, AMR, the RVM process and how their actions regarding AMU affect the wider environment. Methods: A 55-question semi-structured questionnaire was piloted on 15 dairy farms in the Lower North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand via an in-person semi-structured interview between September and November 2021. Results: None of the interviewed farmers could define the term One Health. However, the majority found the RVM process to be of use on their farm, although admitted they generally felt frustration regarding AMR, seeing it as a blockage to productivity, and lacked awareness regarding how their actions were related to its development. Of the farmers interviewed over half had not heard of the traffic light system, and of those who had, one admitted they refused to adhere to it. Conclusions: This survey’s novel findings have highlighted that there are notable gaps within dairy farmer understanding of AMU, AMR and One Health as well as highlighting that veterinarians could do more to keep their clients informed of their important role within One Health. There is still a lot more work to do with regards to vets, farmers and industry representatives working together to embrace One Health. Simple solutions would be to encourage farmers returning unused drugs to their veterinarians for correct disposal and to actively engage farmers further regarding AMU and AMR, so that these end-product users do not feel disconnected from the process.