UMaine Engineer Participates in Canadian Study of Animal Health
Contact: Darrell Donahue, ddonahue@umche.maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu
University of Maine chemical engineer Darrell Donahue participated recently in a Canada-based expert panel charged with reviewing animal health risk assessment practices in order to protect the health of animals and people, and the environment and economy.
The Council of Canadian Academies released Thursday the panel’s report, “Healthy Animals, Healthy Canada” which provides an evidence-based independent assessment of approaches to animal health risk assessment in Canada.
Donahue is a professor of chemical and biological engineering at UMaine. His research interests include quantitative risk assessment of food systems.
The panel examined the risks associated with animal diseases and human health, including increased global trade and migration, higher population densities, and climate change. Donahue’s major contributions to the report included evaluation techniques of risk assessments and implementation of an integrated multidimensional approach, which was part of a systems engineering focus.
“Canada is a strong trading partner with the U.S. and particularly Maine,” Donahue said. “The report supports international efforts to harmonize food safety regulations across the globe — something that Canada and the U.S. have been collaborating on.”
The review by Donahue and 11 other panelists took nearly two years. During the review, the panel determined that although animal health risk assessment in Canada is built on a solid foundation of knowledge and expertise, risk assessment practices may be enhanced by taking the integrated multidimensional approach, according to panel chair Alastair Cribb, a professor and dean of the faculty of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary.
This approach refers to the consideration of a wide range of consequences, specifically those that address animal health, human health and the environment. Currently risk assessment practices only examine the likelihood of a risk occurring and how serious the direct consequences are. A multidimensional approach moves beyond the recognition of the signs and hazards of a potential animal health event, to considering a full range of direct (such as trade losses) and indirect consequences (such as economic impacts on local communities), and towards fully documenting and assessing management decisions for the future.
The panel also found that in order for Canada to stay at the forefront of animal health risk assessment there are numerous activities that can be improved such as: strengthening expertise and knowledge capacity; considering a broader range of consequences related to an animal health event; improving communication among risk assessors, managers and stakeholders; enhancing the transparency of the decision-making process; and setting aside resources for foresight assessments.
The report was sponsored by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). For more information or to download a copy of the report, go to www.scienceadvice.ca/en/animal-health.aspx.