Department of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology

About

The Department of Veterinary Public Health had been established on 31.12.1997 as per the Veterinary Council of India (VCI) guidelines and later the name of the department has been changed into Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology.

The main objective is to provide hands on training in hygienic production of milk, meat and eggs free from physical, chemical residues and pathogens to meet the food standards and to safeguard the health of public.

Heads of the Department
S.No. Head of the Department Period
From To
1. Dr. S. Umamaheswara Rao December 1997 December 2006
2. Dr. K. Prabhakar Reddy(In-charge) December 2006 April  2009
3. Dr. A. Jagadeesh Babu April 2009 October 2012
4. Dr. B. Shobha Mani(In- charge) November 2012 September 2015
5. Dr. A. Jagadeesh Babu September 2015 August 2016
5. Dr. T. Madhava Rao August 2016 Till to date
Teaching

Under-Graduate Courses :

  1. VPE 311 - Milk and Meat Hygiene, Food Safety and Public Health 3 (2+1)
  2. VPE 321 - Veterinary Epidemiology and Zoonoses 3 (2+1)
  3. VPE 511 - Environment and Environmental Hygiene 3 (2+1)
  4. Entrepreneurial course - Food Safety, Residue Analysis and Quality Control.

The department has four separate and independent laboratories for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research such as

  • Milk and Meat Hygiene Laboratory
  • Zoonoses Laboratory
  • Environmental Hygiene Laboratory
  • Food Safety Laboratory

All the laboratories are well equipped with the equipment for the isolation and identification of food spoilage bacteria and pathogenic bacteria of zoonotic importance.

Post-Graduate Programme

This department was sanctioned with post graduation programme in the year 2005 and till now three students have completed their post graduation. University approved to start PhD programme in VPHE during the academic year 2017-18. The postgraduate students of this department were given the work in the following areas.

  • Meat species identification by immunological methods.
  • Surveillance of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ) in pets and their handlers.
  • Detection of lytic bacteriophages against E.coli.

The PG programme was started during the academic year 2016- 17 due to availability of accredited teachers in the department.Two students were admitted initially.

The following courses are being offered as minor courses to the M.V.Sc and PhD students of department of microbiology.

  • An amount Rs.20.00 lakhs has been utilised for renovation of entire Department building during 2016-17.
  • Advanced lab equipment for diagnosis of foodborne pathogens have been procured with an amount of 13.3 lakhs during the year 2016-17.
  • An amount of Rs.6.75 lakhs was sanctioned to modify all labs and toilets.
Facilities available in the field of Food Safety
  1. Isolation and identification of food pathogens in livestock products
  2. Food safety and quality control
  3. PCR diagnosis for food pathogens
  4. Characterisation of livestock industries waste and identification of pathogenic microorganisms
Linkages with other Organizations
  1. National Research Centre on Meat, Hyderabad.
  2. Conducting big Campaign on Rabies disease with an objective to achieve “Rabies Free Tirupati” in collaboration with Municipal corporation, Tirupati. Coordinated by Dr. A. Jagadeesh Babu, Professor of this department.