Staff and Personnel

The veterinarian responsible for the zoo or aquarium must be familiar with the staff and the animal collection. They are also responsible for the development and supervision of long-term preventive medicine programs. The veterinarian must also arrange for the availability of other suitable veterinary coverage when they are unavailable. Although it is preferable to have the services of a full-time veterinarian, this is not warranted by some institutions, depending on their sizes. The services of a part-time veterinarian must be covered by an appropriate contractual arrangement.

Any zoo or aquarium in which a part-time veterinarian provides veterinary coverage must have one staff person who serves as the veterinary program coordinator and supervises this program under the direction of the veterinarian. This veterinary program coordinator serves as the main point of communication with the veterinarian regarding medical issues and maintains oversight of medical records, treatments, preventive medicine program, and medical facilities. The veterinary program coordinator may be a keeper, curator, or hospital or clinic manager. Ideally, this person should be a licensed veterinary technician or animal health technician.

Adequate support staff are also required to establish and maintain the veterinary programs and facilities. These would include support in the areas of husbandry, technical, and clerical support. In a large zoo or aquarium, these tasks may be covered by personnel dedicated to each of these areas, including keepers, veterinary technicians, and administrative support. Although individual personnel in each of these areas may not be required by smaller institutions, it is important that each of these tasks be assigned to specific personnel.

The staff responsible for veterinary care must be familiar with the principles of infection control, the risks associated with chemicals used in the facility, and other aspects of personnel safety, including the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff should also be aware of potential hazards associated with handling dangerous animals (e.g., bites, envenomation, scratches).² Facilities that have macaque species should have a bite and scratch emergency protocol in place because of the risk of infection from herpes B virus.

Veterinary Program

Medical and surgical care must be provided to all the animals in a zoo or aquarium collection, and this care must meet or exceed contemporary practice standards for zoos and aquariums.² Those responsible for providing medical care and treatments must be supervised by qualified staff and those treatments performed by or in consultation with the veterinarian. The use of medications must be done in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations. Drugs used on fish must be administered in a manner to prevent contamination of water supplies and introduction into the human food chain. In the United States, these drugs should be administered in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreement with the AZA regarding the use of animal drugs.⁴

Veterinary staff must have diagnostic laboratory support available as an aid in disease diagnostics. It is recommended that minimal diagnostic capabilities be available on site for the performance of fecal parasite examinations and diagnostic cytology of blood or other specimens. Consultation with veterinary pathologists should be available for diagnostic support to the clinician.

All zoos and aquariums must have access to appropriate surgical facilities, anesthesia, and monitoring equipment. This must be available on site for minor procedures. Fully equipped sterile surgery may not be necessary on site based on the size of the institution and type of collection, but these facilities must be available. In emergencies, minor treatment areas that can be adapted for use as sterile surgery sites should be available. Postoperative care must be provided, ideally at the zoo or aquarium, even when procedures may have been performed off site.

An area should be set aside in the institution for minor treatments and procedures. An on-site pharmacy or drug storage area must be provided that meets regulatory standards for the drugs in use (e.g., appropriate safes for narcotics). Medications dispensed should be accompanied by complete prescriptions and the staff responsible for dispensing and administering the drugs must be trained on their proper handling. In the case of drugs for chemical restraint, emergency procedures must be in place to deal with incidents of accidental exposure.

Postmortem examination should be performed on animals that die in the institution and wild or feral animals found dead on grounds. This examination should be performed as soon as possible and no longer than 24 hours after death. There should be adequate facilities for carcass storage and postmortem examination that are physically separate from other storage and animal treatment areas. Histologic examination should be performed if the cause of death is not evident on gross examination and, ideally, following all mortalities. If species management programs such as species survival plans (SSPs) have necropsy protocols, these should be followed.

Complete medical records must be maintained under the direction of the veterinarian. These should indicate any veterinary attention, including treatments, prescriptions, surgical procedures, and laboratory findings. Ideally, these should be computerized records and must be duplicated and stored in secondary locations or otherwise protected from the effects of fire, flood, or other incidents. Disease and mortality trends should be reviewed to identify the need for changes in husbandry or preventive medicine programs.

A preventive medicine program should be developed in every zoo or aquarium. This should include quarantine, parasite surveillance and control procedures, immunization, infectious disease screening, dental prophylaxis, and periodic review of diets, husbandry techniques, and vermin control.² The quarantine protocols should be under the direction of veterinary staff and strictly enforced.

The quarantine procedures are in place to protect the animal collection from the introduction of infectious diseases. A physical or visual examination with appropriate testing should be performed on all animals prior to shipment. The length of quarantine, types of tests performed prior to shipment or during quarantine, and degree of separation from other animals in the collection are determined by the type of animal being moved, particular species needs, and history of the collections at the sending and receiving institutions. The typical length of quarantine is at least 30 days but may be extended, depending on a particular species’ requirements or findings during the quarantine period. Quarantined animals should be held in a facility separate from the rest of the collection and serviced by personnel who are exclusive to that area or service that area at the end of the day. Clothing and utensils used by personnel servicing quarantine should not be used in any other areas, and infection control techniques should be in place to maximize the separation of the animals in quarantine from those in the collection. Special considerations may be needed for species that cannot be isolated because of unique needs or environmental requirements. Large or specialized animals such as elephants or marine mammals may need to be housed close to collection animals because of the inability to dedicate separate facilities for the quarantine of that species. For these animals, protocols need to emphasize press shipment testing, the greatest degree of isolation possible, and reduction of direct physical contact. Fish and aquatic invertebrates may be quarantined in groups or as individuals. Although limitations exist in the scope and availability of diagnostics tests for these species, quarantine protocols should rely on taxon-specific risk assessments tailored to the needs of the species involved.²

The preventive medicine program should include a program of parasite control developed by the veterinarian. This should include the routine parasite monitoring of individual animals or groups. The timing of the examinations and the need for routine treatment will be determined by the needs of the individual species, their housing, and their history.

The types of immunization needed for the animals in a zoo or aquarium collection are determined by the veterinarian based on the needs of the species and the history of the disease in the collection and surrounding area. SSPs may also have recommendations for the immunization of managed populations.

A program of disease surveillance through diagnostic screening should be set up, depending on the history of a disease in the area, the collection, or government regulations. The veterinarian should work with staff to determine the need for routine examinations of particular animals in the collection. SSPs and taxon advisory groups (TAGs) may be consulted for recommendations regarding the need for routine testing such as tuberculosis testing of primates or physical examinations.

The veterinarian should be knowledgeable about zoonotic disease that could affect the collection animals, personnel, or visiting public.² The veterinarian should work with Human Resources and animal management staff at the institution to address issues of zoonotic diseases, including the training of staff on zoonotic disease risks. A preventive health program should be set up for staff in consultation with physicians knowledgeable about infectious diseases and occupational health. Veterinarians should work in cooperation with animal management staff to assess the risk of zoonotic disease transmission in all areas that allow public contact with the animal collection, plan preventive measures, and train staff in contact areas. For further information, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) has developed measures to prevent disease associated with animals in a public setting.⁵