Two Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty members have been interviewed recently by major media outlets seeking perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Suresh Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology (CPB), addressed questions related to virus spillover, a term used to describe viruses making the jump from animals to humans. Dr. Candace Croney, who holds a joint appointment as professor of animal behavior and well-being in the CPB Department, and professor of animal sciences in the College of Agriculture, talked about the difficult challenges facing animal producers as they deal with the effects of meat packing plant shutdowns triggered by COVID-19 outbreaks among employees. Dr. Croney also is the director of the Purdue Center for Animal Welfare Science (CAWS).
Just last week, Dr. Mittal was featured as a panelist on a live YouTube broadcast called Roundtable, produced by TRTWorld, participating in a discussion about the potential for human encroachment on wildlife habitats to lead to more virus pandemics. Click here to view the program. Dr. Mittal also was quoted by CNN in a story about the same topic published on CNN.com on April 7.
Additionally, Dr. Croney is quoted in a new story published by CNN.com yesterday about the toll that meat packing plant shutdowns is taking as farmers deal with the implications of not being able to bring their livestock to market. Dr. Croney explained the resulting potential for overcrowding on farms presents significant animal welfare challenges, which can leave farmers with little choice but to euthanize. “Just from a practical standpoint, this is such a devastating decision to make emotionally, forget financially,” Dr. Croney is quoted as saying in the article. “It goes against the ethics that anybody involved with farming on any level has.” Dr. Croney also is quoted in a similar story published May 4 by Vox. Both articles reflect information contained in a story entitled “The Road from Farm to Table” released by Purdue Agricultural Communications, which Dr. Croney contributed to, along with Dr. Jayson Lusk, department head and distinguished professor of agricultural economics.