One of the aspects of traveling for my job is the downtime of waiting for flights and the time spent on airplanes. To pass the time, I usually have a book to read on my trips. I am reading a book entitled Complications by Atul Gawande.1 It is nonfiction about the experiences of a surgeon as he and his colleagues practice human medicine and surgery. The stories he tells highlight just how inexact surgery can be and at the same time he reveals much about the advances being made. The descriptions in this book are occasionally alarming but the book is definitely an interesting and worthwhile read. If nothing else, this book has helped to inform my decision-making on healthcare.
There is a phrase in the book that leaped out at me: “I caught a glimpse of where the edges of knowledge were, the approachable frontiers.” To me, the term “edges of knowledge” is very descriptive of where the AASV and its members need to be operating. The core mission of the AASV is to increase the knowledge of swine veterinarians. How we do that is a determinant of our relevancy for members and the pork industry. Relevancy is the currency of success for any organization that is based on attracting and retaining members while creating value for the profession and the industry. If we are to be relevant, then we need to be on the edges of knowledge.
If you were at the recent AASV Annual Meeting in San Diego, then you had the opportunity to see the edges of knowledge on display in the educational sessions as speakers gave presentations on a wide array of timely and topical subjects. There were seminars and sessions where you can get a sense of where that edge exists. You could see it in the technical show as companies provided information on new products and technologies. You could also see it in the hallways and in the private meetings as countless interactions occurred between and among colleagues. No matter what the venue or setting, there was a tremendous amount of knowledge being exchanged.
The edges of knowledge connote the finding of answers to perplexing questions. To find the answers, we must first ask the right questions. Then if answers are found, we must act. I am writing this in early May, exactly 5 years since porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) was found to have entered the United States. In those early days of the outbreak there were a number of perplexing questions. The AASV, with support from the National Pork Producers Council and the National Pork Board, embarked on an epidemiological survey seeking answers about the introduction and spread of PEDV. The survey was not conducted to find a definitive answer but rather to find indicators of risk. The study found seven feed-related variables, or risk factors, associated with higher odds of PEDV.
These feed-related risk factors combined with the evidence of simultaneous appearances of PEDV in several geographically distinct locations were significant. Despite these implications, the response in 2013 from the US government and the feed industry was muted, to say the least. We were told that there was no way the virus would survive long enough to be transported in feedstuffs. As it turns out, that was not based on fact. Groundbreaking (at the edges of knowledge) research conducted by Dr Scott Dee has proven the hypothesis that viral agents, including PEDV, can survive in various feedstuffs long enough to make their way to the Midwest from overseas.2 Armed with this knowledge, we are now faced with the fact that the door is still wide open for the entry of a foreign animal disease via feedstuffs.
It is at this point that you would expect me to make an observation about what actions are needed. You will be sorely disappointed because I have no keen insight on actions that are any different from what has been done the last 5 years. The perplexing question is still the same: How do we keep those diseases out of the United States? The size and scale of the global feed system is daunting. It is unlikely that traditional actions like ingredient inspections, testing for contaminants, quality control, and quality assurance will be any more successful than they were prior to PEDV entering the United States.
The edges of knowledge can be a scary place to operate, but this does not diminish the need to continue to seek answers. We need to keep looking to the edges of knowledge to come up with better actions because that is perhaps the only place we will find them.
Tom Burkgren, DVM
Executive Director
References
1. Gawande A. Complications: A surgeon’s notes on an imperfect science. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company; 2002.
2. Dee S, Neill C, Singrey A, Clement T, Cochrane R, Jones C, Patterson G, Spronk G, Christopher-Hennings J, Nelson E. Modeling the transboundary risk of feed ingredients contaminated with porcine epidemicdiarrhea virus. BMC Vet Res. 2016: 12:51. doi: 10.1186/s12917-016-0674-z.