About Us

Who we are

The Veterinary Public Health program (VPH) is an integral part of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. We work by improving human health through a One Health approach. Our jurisdiction includes all of Los Angeles County, except the cities of Long Beach, Vernon and Pasadena. We are staffed by veterinarians, animal sanitation inspectors, and administrative staff to uphold our mission and reach our vision.

Mission:

To prevent and control diseases in animals in Los Angeles County that spread between animals and people.

Vision:

People and animals in Los Angeles County are safe from diseases that can spread between them.

What is One Health

Did you know that humans and animals can suffer from the same diseases? The World Health Organization reports that over half of human infectious diseases originally come from animals¹, also known as zoonoses. This concept that human health is related to animal and environmental health is known as One Health ².

What we do

Animal disease surveillance and outbreak investigations
- Knowing which animal diseases are present in our county helps veterinarians keeping people and pets healthy locally
- Through surveillance of West Nile virus in dead crows, we can predict human outbreaks
- Reportable animal diseases list in our county
Animal bites & rabies control
- All animal bites are reportable to us
- Pets that have bitten people are usually quarantined at home under the owner's care
Animal import inspections
- Pets imported from abroad can bring in diseases into the US
- VPH works at Los Angeles International airport (LAX) to ensure that pets entering our county are healthy

2020 Healthy Pets Healthy Families initiative
- Community-driven initiative to improve animal and human health focusing on the 7 areas below:
Public outreach and education
- We can provide specific groups with educational presentations regarding veterinary public health issues in our county
- VPH designs and distributes educational flyers and other documents to ensure that the public is aware of local risks to their families' and pet's health
- for a link to our flyers and other educational materials
Student training
- Graduate and veterinary students can volunteer with us and help on a variety of projects
- If you are interested, contact us at vet@ph.lacounty.gov
Collaboration and research with other agencies and professionals
- We work with different universities, laboratories and local leaders to promote public health in our county

Animal Disease Surveillance

Why should we track diseases in animals?

People and animals share the same environment, and even share many of the same diseases. Certain diseases in animals can be directly spread from animal to human (e.g. rabies). Other diseases are spread to both people and animals within the environment (e.g. West Nile Virus through mosquitoes, fungal diseases like coccidioidomycosis through the soil).

Tracking diseases in animals provides a more complete understanding of a disease in the community than just tracking it in people. In some cases, diseases are found in animals before they are found in humans (e.g. parasite eyeworm called Onchocerca lupi in dogs in Los Angeles (LA) County).

Throughout most of the world, there is little or no ongoing surveillance data on diseases in dogs, cats and wildlife. Since many diseases in animals are zoonotic, this lack of data constitutes a large gap in public health surveillance.

Dogs and cats live in very close proximity to people in LA County, and can therefore transmit diseases directly or may bring infected fleas or ticks into homes. Multiple species of wildlife, especially birds, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and several bat species, thrive in urban and suburban settings, and can also bring zoonotic and vectorborne diseases into human living areas.

The origins of animal disease surveillance in LA County

Los Angeles (LA) County has access to more data on companion animal infectious disease than most jurisdictions due to local ordinances established in 1926. These ordinances require reporting of infectious diseases in animals. They were created after one of the largest Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreaks in United States history affected LA County and other parts of California.

As the county urbanized during the 20th century, these ordinances were rarely used. The Veterinary Public Health Program (VPH) re-established surveillance for animal diseases after the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001. Veterinary clinics and animal shelters were first notified of the renewed reporting requirement in 2002. In 2007, a list of priority diseases for reporting was created and distributed. Since then, data on a variety of infectious diseases has been collected. This data is summarized, analyzed, and then shared with the public to encourage preventative efforts.