Dear Editor,

In follow up to the initial letter on the veterinary cuts proposed in this year’s budget I want to discuss the veterinary laboratory.

The Veterinary Laboratory is a bit more fortunate in the proposed governmental phase out plan than Veterinary Services as they get to stay open for up to 2 years.  However, like the veterinary service a continuity plan for service is not present. The government has stated that the Research and Productivity Council (RPC) will perform a feasibility study to determine if they will take on this diagnostic testing. This is not a guarantee of service provision for NB livestock producers. 

RPC is a crown corporation in NB and acts as a fee-for service provider of environmental, water, industrial testing and aquaculture diagnostic testing. This is a private testing model that the government wants the veterinary laboratory to transition toward. Having worked in the private sector I can state that the government’s plan can work only in part.  The disease surveillance aspect of what the Laboratory does in NB and as part of a nationwide veterinary and public health surveillance networks (i.e. Canadian Animal Health Surveillance Network and Canadian Food Inspection Agency) cannot be taken on by a private entity without public funds backing the cost of testing. 

The value of this surveillance testing cannot be simplified to a budgetary line item. British advertising executive Rory Sutherland coined the term “doorman fallacy” in his 2019 book Alchemy. Sutherland uses the concept of the hotel doorman to illustrate how businesses can misjudge the value a person brings to the role. In this argument, a business consultant sees the doorman as a person that simply stands by the entrance. They engage in small talk with those coming and going and occasionally operate the door. This strips away the true complexity of what a doorman provides. The doorman’s role is multifaceted, with intangible functions that extend beyond just handling the door. Doormen help guests feel welcome, hail taxis, enhance security, discourage unwelcome behaviour, and offer personalised attention to regulars. Even the mere presence of a doorman elevates the prestige of a hotel or residence, boosting guests’ perception of quality.

The Laboratory is the doorman for the food animal agriculture industry in NB and, by extension, for Canada. This surveillance testing does not show its value until a disease is identified in a timely manner to allow for prompt isolation and extermination of the disease threat. In the meantime, all of the negative test results derived at the lab act as an insurance policy for the $1.2 billion agriculture industry, for the roughly 1800 farms and 13000+ agriculture employees in NB.  Is saving $5 million dollars a year for closing the veterinary service and laboratory worth it losing this insurance policy? It seems a costly gamble.   

Outside of the surveillance for animal disease of health and economic importance, surveillance for zoonotic disease (those that can spread from animals to people) occurs through the veterinary laboratory. Animals are sentinels for many diseases of human health significance and detection in our animals can aide the health department in providing care to the greater public. The most significant of these is Rabies, but this includes (but not limited to), High Pathogenic Avian Influenza, West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Lyme Disease, Q -fever, Brucellosis, Anaplasmosis. All diseases that can cause very severe illness or death in humans. If surveillance testing is reduced or eliminated, is that $5 million dollars in savings worth the possible outcome?

Tim Cushing

Veterinary Pathologist

New Brunswick Provincial Vet Lab