About the Guest
Dr. Jack A. Shere is the Deputy Administrator for Veterinary Services at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Beyond the domestic program diseases work that is a large part of the Veterinary Services mission, Dr. Shere has worked on animal disease outbreaks of Salmonella enteridittis (SE), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in England, Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI), Exotic Newcastle Disease (END), and High Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). During the 2002-2003 Exotic Newcastle Disease Outbreak in California, Texas, New Mexico, and Utah, he served as the Joint Area Commander and Incident Commander for the task force that eradicated this disease from the United States.
Dr. Shere has held many roles since joining the USDA APHIS Veterinary Services in 1990, serving as a field Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO) in Nebraska and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, he worked both as a field VMO and as the State Area Epidemiology Officer (AEO) from 1991 to 1999. In 1999, he was promoted to the position of Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC). Dr. Shere served as the AVIC from April 1999 to November 2002, when he was promoted to the position of the Associate Regional Director (ARD) for the Western Region of the United States. From 2005 to 2013, Dr. Shere was the Eastern Regional Director of the United States for Veterinary Services. Dr. Shere received a BS in Biology and Chemistry in 1981, a DVM in 1987, and a MS in Education with a minor in counseling in 1988 – all from Iowa State University. He practiced Veterinary Clinical Medicine for three years in Georgia. He received a joint PhD in Poultry Science and in Microbiology, which were awarded in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. His PhD research and dissertation involved the epidemiology and ecology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cattle.
What can you expect to learn from this episode of Popular Pig?
- The common signs and symptoms of African Swine Fever (ASF).
- How producers and veterinarians who work with pigs can help to prevent ASF from reaching the U.S.
- How the pork industry and economy will be impacted if ASF is detected in the U.S.
- What to do when you identify signs and symptoms of ASF.
- What APHIS is currently doing to help protect swine and pig farmers, and where can people go to learn more and get resources.
- Dr. Jack Shere’s “golden nugget”
