Thursday April 18, 2024
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 75 percent of the new diseases that have affected humans over the past 10 years originated from an animal or an animal product.
As the new state public health veterinarian, Dr. Kelly Giesbrecht, DVM, will provide leadership and supervision regarding issues related to the identification and evaluation of human health hazards of animal origin that could potentially impact the health of Kentuckians.
“We are very pleased to have Dr. Giesbrecht join our staff at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,” said CHFS Cabinet Secretary Vickie Yates Brown Glisson. “Her wealth of experience in public health and veterinary science is a perfect fit for this extremely important role and will be a tremendous asset to our work to improve the public health of Kentucky.”
Among other things, the state public health veterinarian is tasked with;
- Identifying and evaluating hazards to human health of animal origin.
- Developing policies, guidelines, and strategies for the control of zoonotic and foodborne diseases.
- Disseminating relevant information to experts in public health, veterinary science and other scientific disciplines, as well as to consumer groups and the public.
- Contributing to field and laboratory investigations of zoonotic and foodborne diseases.
As state veterinarian, Dr. Giesbrecht will be a part of the Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning in DPH. She comes to the department with over 22 years of combined experience in veterinary medicine and public health. She has a doctorate in veterinarian medicine from the University of Florida and a masters of public health from the University of Texas.
After clinical practice, she spent 11 years in the Air Force as a public health officer and most recently worked at the Northern Kentucky Health Department where she served as a regional epidemiologist.
Additional information is available at http://chfs.ky.gov/.
As part of the 52 Weeks of Public Health campaign, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH), within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), is calling on homeowners to help control mosquitoes by eliminating standing water from containers that can collect rainwater where insects breed.
“Everyone needs to do their part to help reduce the mosquito population,” said Hiram Polk Jr., MD, DPH commissioner. “As we are out in the garden getting ready for the growing season or after a rain shower, spend a moment or two thinking about other potential breeding areas for mosquitoes. Walk around your yard once a week or after a rain shower to see if there are any containers holding water and drain them.”
Female mosquitoes need only a teaspoon of water in which to lay eggs; can become an adult mosquito in just seven days; and have a lifespan of about two weeks. Mosquitoes will lay eggs in almost anything such as a bottle cap, a candy wrapper, folds of a plastic tarp or downspout, discarded tires, children’s toys or the seat of a riding lawn mower. Mosquitoes lay eggs on the walls of water-filled containers and the eggs stick like glue and remain attached until they are scrubbed off. The eggs can survive when they dry out up to 8 months. Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover or throw out containers that can hold water.
Common household items that can be a home for mosquito larvae include buckets, garbage cans, tires, tarps, gutters and flexible downspout extensions, decks and porches, kiddie pools and pool covers, sand boxes, wagons and big plastic toys, planter saucers or planters without drainage holes, wheelbarrows, watering cans, bird baths, decorative ponds without fish and unscreened water barrels.
If you cannot eliminate or drain a breeding ground because it is too heavy to move, consider using a larvacide such as mosquito dunks containing a biological larvacide.
For more information about the mosquito proofing your yard to reduce mosquito populations, see this video featuring Dr. Anna Yaffee, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Kentucky Department for Public Health.
For further information visit the DPH website http://healthalerts.ky.gov/zika or the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/zika. Be sure to follow KYHealthAlerts on Twitter and DPH’s Zika mascot, Marty Mosquito, on Instagram, @martymosquito.
Throughout the planned 52 Weeks of Public Health promotion, DPH will spotlight a specific public health issue. Additional information about the campaign is available on the DPH website: http://chfs.ky.gov/dph/default.htm and will be posted on the CHFS Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/kychfs where Kentuckians are encouraged to like and share posts among their networks of friends.
