State Veterinarian

Born and raised in central Illinois, Dr. Ernst completed his undergraduate course work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and earned a D.V.M. from the U. of I. College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. Post graduation, he spent five years in private mixed animal clinical practice in central Illinois. In July of 1989, Dr. Ernst accepted a position with the Illinois Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Health as a field veterinarian in northern and central Illinois. As a field veterinarian, he was responsible for all regulatory animal health activities in his assigned territory. During this time, he completed training as a Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician, (FADD), at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York and completed training in the Incident Command System.

In January of 2005, he was appointed State Veterinarian and Bureau Chief for the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare. Currently, Dr. Ernst 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.

HPAI State Update

This presentation provides an update on the status of HPAI within Illinois from a regulatory disease perspective.