Vetnews | Mei 2026 8 « BACK TO CONTENTS Abstract The escalation in frequency, scale, and complexity of disasters presents a systemic threat to animal health, public health, and socio-economic stability. Despite the recognised but often overlooked role of veterinary services within disaster management frameworks, preparedness remains inconsistent and frequently reactive. This article advances a structured, systems-based approach to animal disaster preparedness, integrating principles of disaster risk reduction, biosecurity, contingency planning, and capacity development within a One Health context. It argues that effective disaster management is contingent not on planning alone, but on institutional coherence, operational readiness, and sustained capacity across all levels of the system. The article proposes a consolidated framework for veterinary disaster preparedness that emphasises prevention, early warning, coordinated response, and recovery, supported by continuous training and intersectoral integration. The central thesis is that resilience is an outcome of deliberate system design, not post hoc response. Introduction The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction defines a disaster as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. The risks of disasters are no longer episodic but structural. The convergence of climate change, ecological degradation, intensification of animal production systems, and increased human–animal-environment interface has shifted disaster exposure from isolated events to persistent systemic risks. Animals occupy a critical nexus within this risk landscape. Their vulnerability during disasters has direct implications for public health, particularly through zoonotic pathways, food security, agricultural continuity and economic stability at local, national and even international levels, as was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic. Veterinary services are therefore not peripheral actors in disaster management; they are core to its effectiveness. However, current preparedness remains uneven, frequently reactive, and insufficiently integrated into broader disaster management systems. This article advances a structured, policy-aligned framework for veterinary disaster preparedness, grounded in three interdependent domains: • Risk reduction and prevention • Preparedness and contingency planning • Capacity and systems integration The Disaster Risk Context: From Event-Based to Systemic Risk The Changing Nature of Disaster Risk Disasters affecting animal systems are increasing not only in frequency but in complexity. They are no longer discrete events but interconnected phenomena spanning environmental, biological, and technological domains. The current Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in South Africa is a classic example where the management of the disease spans from basic disease management to classification and typing of the virus, bureaucracy in importing the vaccines, and cooperation of various departments (One Health approach). Typology of Animal-Related Disasters A functional classification of disasters is: • Natural hazards such as floods, droughts and wildfires. • Biological, Chemical and Nuclear threats such as infectious disease outbreaks, zoonoses, chemical spills, and nuclear contamination of sorts. • Technological incidents such as system and infrastructure failures. Leading Article Dr Paul van der Merwe BVSc; BVSc(Hons); MMedVet(Fer). Director One Health Consulting Animal Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction: A Veterinary Systems Approach to Prevention, Preparedness, and Resilience Figure 1: Types of disasters. The Aishub
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