cfah history & purpose

The Center for Food Animal Health (CFAH) is an organized research program of the School of Veterinary Medicine. Established in 1972, and formerly known as the Livestock Disease Research Laboratory, this program serves as the veterinary medical component of the Agricultural Experiment Station and is managed as a non-departmental Center within the School. In 1988 Veterinary Medicine Extension became an integral part of the School for the purpose of establishing closer collaborative research efforts between AES faculty and related School programs. The purpose of the CFAH is to organize resources for and conduct research on animal diseases important to livestock industries, important food borne and vector borne disease problems, zoonosis associated with diseases of livestock and environmental health important to the State of California. Although the CFAH program is managed at the Campus level, the Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources (DANR) serves as a conduit for the reporting process required by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for many of the resources provided by this program.