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FRANKFORT,
Ky. — An honored Kentucky veterinarian has been
appointed deputy state veterinarian by the Kentucky
State Board of Agriculture.
Dr.
Sue Billings will start work June 1. She currently is
a medical epidemiologist in the Kentucky Department
for Public Health.
“Sue
Billings' background in both medical epidemiology and
veterinary medicine makes her uniquely qualified for
this position,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer
said. “She will strengthen the Department's surveillance
efforts for livestock disease, which directly affects
human health and the quality of the human food supply.
I want to thank the State Board of Agriculture for appointing
such a high-quality professional to this key position.”
“This position is a vital link in the Department's efforts
to monitor and control animal disease and prepare for
an outbreak,” State
Veterinarian Dr. Robert Stout said. “Dr. Billings is
widely respected in the veterinary community, which
will enhance implementation and acceptance of our programs.”
Dr.
Billings has been a state medical epidemiologist since
1999. Before that, she was a small- and large-animal
veterinarian with the Springfield Animal Clinic, which
she co-owned. She has served as program manager of the
public health department's West Nile Virus surveillance
grant since 2000. She received the Veterinarian of the
Year Award from the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association
in 2002 and is a past president of the KVMA. She also
earned the Department for Public Health's Commissioner's
Award for excellence in leadership in 2002.
Dr.
Billings received her Doctor
of Veterinary Medicine degree from Auburn University
in 1971, graduating magna
cum laude. She earned a master's degree
in public health from the University of Kentucky in
1997. During the past four years she has given numerous
oral presentations on West Nile Virus, disease surveillance,
epidemiology and other subjects.
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