Contact: Mick Fulton, Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, (517) 353-3701, fulton@dcpah.msu.edu; or Tom Oswald, University Relations, (517) 355-2281, oswald@msu.edu
3/14/21005
EAST LANSING, Mich. � Over the course of his career, R. Mick Fulton has been involved in the design and build of two animal diagnostic laboratories, experiences he will take to Afghanistan later this month to help that country re-build its agriculture and food industry.
Fulton, an associate professor of avian diseases in Michigan State University�s College of Veterinary Medicine, heads to Afghanistan on March 21 to help in the construction of a laboratory similar to MSU�s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH).
This, he said, is one of the first steps in helping the war-torn nation begin to feed itself.
�This is all part of a plan to provide the Afghans with a disease surveillance and reporting system,� Fulton said. �This will, hopefully, help them be more self-sufficient in terms of feeding their people.�
Fulton is heading overseas at the request of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is helping Afghanistan develop an agriculture program.
Willie Reed, director of MSU�s DCPAH and a professor of pathobiology and diagnostic investigation, also has been invited and could go sometime in May.
One of the first items on his Afghan agenda, said Fulton, is the development and construction of a necropsy laboratory. This is where animals are autopsied to determine cause of death.
�Once the necropsy lab is up and running,� he said, �they will be able to train students. That is the first step toward a national program.�
Here at MSU, Fulton was involved in the design and building of the DCPAH, a state-of-the-art facility that houses 10 separate labs and conducts more than one million diagnostic tests a year, protecting humans and animals from a wide array of diseases, including anything from West Nile virus to bovine tuberculosis to rabies.
He also helped build a similar center while on faculty at Purdue University.
�I�ve been through the building process,� Fulton said. �I know about space requirements, equipment requirements and generally how to get these things started.�
Another area of expertise Fulton will bring with him is knowledge of poultry. In addition to serving as chief of the center�s Anatomic Pathology Section, he also is an expert in avian diseases.
�When you think about populations of underdeveloped nations,� he said, �if they want to provide for their people a cheap source of protein, then poultry is the way to go.�
As for traveling to what many would consider one of the more dangerous countries on earth, Fulton said he feels a bit of apprehension, but not enough to keep him home.
�It�s a great opportunity to be asked by your government to use your skills to be able to help other people,� he said. �You have to weigh the benefits from the good parts to the bad parts, and in this situation the good parts outweigh the bad.�
For additional information on MSU�s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, visit the Web at www.dcpah.msu.edu