Category: Updates

State Veterinarian

Born and raised in central Illinois, Dr. Mark Ernst completed his undergraduate coursework at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned a D.V.M. from the U. of I. College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. After spending five years in mixed animal practice in central Illinois, he accepted a position with the Illinois Department of Agriculture as a field veterinarian and foreign animal disease diagnostician.

In 2005, he was appointed state veterinarian and bureau chief of the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. He currently serves as the state veterinarian and division manager of food safety and animal protection, which includes the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare, the Bureau of Meat and Poultry Inspection, and the Egg Inspection Program.

---

Associate Professor

Dr. Sander is an Associate Professor for Preventive Medicine and Public Health and Director of the DVM/MPH Joint Degree program at University of Illinois – College of Veterinary Medicine. His research focuses on the intersection of human, animal, and ecosystem health – One Health – and includes interprofessional experience curriculum development; zoonotic disease emergence, behaviors and preventions; the human-animal bond; antimicrobial resistance; and emergency preparedness and response.

---

An Update on One Health Efforts in Illinois

The state of Illinois has embraced One Health in part because of the increasing One Health concerns from COVID-19 to highly pathogenic avian influenza to expanding antimicrobial resistance and tick-borne disease. This session will provide an update on those efforts including tangible ways you and the state of Illinois can push One Health forward.

1. Describe the One Health efforts currently being led by the state of Illinois.
2. Identify the top One Health threats currently impacting the state of Illinois that relate to veterinary practice.