King, Distinguished Lecturer

Dr. Lonnie King, doctor of veterinary medicine and the former director of the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases at the Center for Disease Control, was the Class of 1963 Distinguished Lecturer at the center’s 2009 Fall Veterinary Conference.

King’s presentation, “One Health: New Opportunities for Veterinary Medicine,” discussed the reasons new diseases are emerging and how they affect animals.

Some 16 zoonotic epidemics have occurred over the last 15 years. The number is not surprising, he says, given that approximately 1 billion people cross international borders yearly and an organism can move faster than its incubation period.

Two-thirds of the 1,415 known human pathogens occur in non-human species, and 75 percent, 175, of the recently emerged human diseases are zoonotic.

Animal and human health are part of a continuum of causality and events requiring an integration of strategies, he says. “One Health” is the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines — working locally, nationally and globally — to attain optimal health of humans, animals and our environment.

King currently serves as dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and DVM degrees. He earned his master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.

Approximately 250 veterinarians and veterinary technicians attended the annual Class of 1963 Distinguished Lectureship.