Deckert joins swine faculty at OVC

Focus on sow mortality, health impacts of climate change, and antimicrobial use

By Lilian Schaer for Livestock Research Innovation Corporation

Over three decades ago, Dr. Anne Deckert first started working at the Ontario Veterinary College as a summer student for Dr. Bob Friendship. 

This past February, following his retirement, she returned full-time to OVC when she became an assistant professor and the third swine-focused faculty member alongside Dr. Zvonimir Poljak and Dr. Terri O’Sullivan. 

“The new role is a balance between teaching the swine components of the veterinary curriculum and undergraduate animal health course, alongside research and supervising graduate students conducting projects,” says Deckert. 

She grew up on a pig farm and worked as a food animal veterinarian for several years after graduating from OVC before completing a Masters in epidemiology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and returning to OVC as a research associate. 
Deckert joined the Public Health Agency of Canada as a veterinary epidemiologist in 1999 but kept a one-day-a-week position at OVC, teaching on-farm. 

“This helped me stay connected to the pig side of the world, something that I’ve tried to maintain throughout my career,” she adds. “I really like teaching and research and the opportunity to do more of both at OVC was a big attraction for this new position.” 

While at PHAC, she also studied part-time at OVC for a PhD, which she completed in 2012.  

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

At the Public Health Agency of Canada, Deckert became part of a team that focused on the emerging problem of increased antibiotic resistance and in 2002 launched the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS). CIPARS began with three antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance components, as well as monitoring human antimicrobial use, and several targeted research projects. 

Deckert’s role was managing surveillance at the abattoir level for beef, pork and chicken, and as of 2006, she also became active in farm level surveillance when the on-farm monitoring program for swine was launched. 

All samples are submitted confidentially through veterinarians to gather samples for antimicrobial resistance testing and anonymous data on antimicrobial use, animal health, demographics and biosecurity. This on-farm component has since been expanded to include poultry as well as feedlot and dairy cattle. 

“It’s not a traceback program at all, but it lets us get a picture of how antimicrobials are used in Canada, what kind of antimicrobial resistance we’re seeing on pig farms and how we can help producers use antibiotics efficiently. It’s important work,” she says. 
Key to the long-term success of the on-farm surveillance program has been the collaborative approach between veterinarians, academia, pork producer organizations, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and provincial governments, which helped the industry understand what the program was trying to achieve. 

Building a research program

Now that she’s returned to OVC, Deckert is working on building her research program. She’s always been interested in sow health, including how the industry can improve piglet management and survival with hyper-prolific sows, as well as dealing with longevity and sow mortality. 

“What are the risk factors associated with mortality, why are we seeing increases in sow mortality and why do so many herds struggle with this?” she asks. “There is more to look at there as far as risk factors and potential interventions.” 

Another area of focus is the impact of climate change on animal health. For example, as temperatures rise and insect patterns change, what diseases should the industry be aware of, monitoring, and conducting surveillance for that may become an issue? What impacts will the environmental side of climate change have on swine health? 

“There are a lot of pigs raised in very hot parts of the world, but in Canada we also have to deal with cold so we need to look at what is being done elsewhere that could work well in the Canadian context in dealing with temperature extremes,” she says. 

Her final area of focus is connected to her more than two decades of work with antimicrobial resistance – helping the industry use antibiotics in the best ways possible to both maintain effectiveness and address public perception challenges. 

“We have to use them as smartly as possible so we can have them continue to be a useful solution, which means helping farmers streamline and minimize use without impacting animal health,” she believes. 

Getting research into practice

At the end of the day, though, all paths lead back to the farm. 

Regardless of what research priorities she ends up working on, she believes strongly in transferring the results of that work to farmers and industry in a way that is effective and useful so that it can be put into practice where it will make the biggest difference. This means taking the time to understand how people access and process information, and what barriers are keeping people from using research results. 

“My main goal is to make sure I stay in touch with what the industry needs and can produce research that is applicable and useful, and will help industry navigate the issues, pressures, and challenges it faces,” she says. “That means staying grounded and in touch and understanding what’s needed in a way that is useful to the industry.” 

This article was originally published in the June 2024 edition of Better Pork.