World Veterinary Year 2011

This year has been declared World Veterinary Year, marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of the veterinary profession and of veterinary science. It was in 1761 that King Louis XV of France, troubled by the ongoing scourge of cattle disease, proposed that a veterinary school should be founded in Lyon.

The year also marks the 300th anniversary of the development of the first measures designed to fight bovine diseases, measures that were formulated in the early 18th century by Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini and by Giovanni Maria Lancisi, personal physician to Popes Innocent XI, Clement XI and Innocent XII.

The slogan adopted for this year of celebration is "Vet for health. Vet for food. Vet for the planet!", a motto that evokes the all-important role that veterinarians play in safeguarding human and animal health, in working to enhance food security and in protecting the environment.

Other VET 2011 events

Along with the announcement of the eradication of  rinderpest, which will take place in June 2011, the three major events of World Veterinary Year will be: a world conference on the teaching of the veterinary sciences (to be held in Lyon  from 13 to 15 May 2011), a symposium in Rome (June 22 - 23  2011) on the history of the control of animal diseases, using the example of rinderpest, and an international ceremony winding up the year's events to be held in Capetown, in South Africa, from 10 to 14 October 2011.