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In a career spanning more than five decades, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kihm has been guided by a philosophy that has shaped both his personal choices and his contributions to global animal health: "You have to be open for anything that comes".

Ueli, as he is known to colleagues worldwide, has followed an extraordinary trajectory: from academic researcher to Director of Switzerland's Federal Vaccine Institute, during his time as Chief Veterinary Officer managing the BSE crisis and leadership roles in international organizations, to founding SAFOSO and TAFS Forum, consistently transforming challenges into opportunities for advancing global animal health.

What makes his story compelling is not just the breadth of his contributions, developing disease control capacity across regions, transforming institutional roles, contributing to international disease control standards, and creating platforms for public-private collaboration, but also his willingness to reinvent his career at pivotal moments.

This interview explores the mindset behind these transitions: a commitment to science-based decision-making, a strong belief in building people's capacity, and the conviction that complex animal health challenges can only be addressed through collaboration between public and private sectors. For professionals navigating their own careers and for anyone interested in evidence-based innovation, Ueli's reflections offer both inspiration and grounded insights into building a meaningful and lasting legacy in animal health.

A Swiss-funded project in Georgia is transforming animal traceability by placing farmers at the centre of the system. While developing Georgia's National Animal Identification and Traceability System, the project has introduced a complementary Farm Management System specifically tailored for small and medium-sized dairy farms.

SAFOSO plays a key role in this initiative by providing technical backstopping to the project.

Wednesday morning at 8:30. News about a suspected case of Lumpy Skin Disease on a Swiss dairy farm begins to circulate. While this may sound like the start of a real outbreak, it was in fact the starting point of a full-day simulation exercise we conducted together with Swissgenetics, the largest genetics provider in Switzerland.

With increasing animal disease pressure across Europe, crisis preparedness is becoming ever more important. The exercise was designed to test response capabilities under pressure, evaluate decision-making processes, and identify potential gaps in coordination and communication before a real crisis occurs.

Transboundary animal diseases (TADs) are spreading more widely and rapidly, reaching regions that have been free of them for decades. In this context, we would like to share our reflections on some of the most significant developments of 2025, offering insights into the global challenges faced over the past year. These events under score the urgent need for rapid emergency responses and the importance of strengthening resilience in livestock systems.

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We participated in the first edition of the VETTECH Conference, held in the first week of December in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This important regional event focused on the future of veterinary biotechnology, exploring how technological innovation can be leveraged to address key One Health–related challenges.

In November, we had the pleasure of delivering a Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) workshop for the Cantonal Veterinary Office in Bern, Switzerland (AVET Bern), as part of their continuing education day. The workshop brought together the latest scientific insights with practical aspects relevant to Swiss veterinary services, offering a valuable space for discussion and exchange.

We’re proud to share a peer-reviewed publication that is part of our two-year broader collaboration with Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD).

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In times of crisis, fragile animal health systems endanger food security, livelihoods, and public health.
Building resilient animal health systems is not optional, it is essential.

In this SAFOSO review, we explore why.

SAFOSO supported the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in designing a framework to allow WOAH to develop an advocacy strategy targeting high-level decision-makers. The purpose of this advocacy strategy is to enable WOAH to better showcase the value of WOAH membership through enhanced tailored advocacy actions.

As Ukraine continues its advance toward European Union membership, one step in the process is the implementation of EU animal welfare standards. In early April 2025, a delegation of Ukrainian officials accompanied by Julia Hüttl from SAFOSO travelled to the Netherlands for a five-day study visit focused on the practical implementation of EU animal welfare legislation.

Over the past year, we have achieved some significant milestones in the project. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) surveys were successfully conducted among Purdue extension educators and backyard poultry owners. These surveys provided valuable insights into the current state of disease awareness and biosecurity practices in the state of Indiana, USA.  Based on the survey data, we are now developing tailored online training materials for Purdue Extension Educators, addressing critical gaps in knowledge and practices related to disease prevention and control in backyard poultry farms. Furthermore, training material for backyard poultry owners, including children and adolescents, will be developed.

We are excited to continue our participation in the EU-FORA program, a fellowship program by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) that equips participants with the critical skills and knowledge needed to meet European Union standards in Food Safety Assessment.

SAFOSO is leading the Induction Training Module, hosted annually in Parma by the EFSA. As the training coordinator, we survey the training content and provide lectures in Risk Analysis and Principles in Epidemiology.

Phosphorus is not only a non-renewable resource, but also a non-substitutable for food production. There is therefore a need to recycle phosphorus from waste streams. SAFOSO conducted a risk appraisal on behalf of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) to assess the residual BSE risk of ash produced from category 1animal by-products taking into account the present BSE situation. ESPP has shared the report with EFSA as input for their current assessment of prion risk.

We are happy to share the completion of our research project on paratuberculosis (Johne's disease) in Swiss dairy herds, with the results now published in a scientific paper. The project was led by the Clinic for Ruminants at the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Bern, with SAFOSO responsible for performing the epidemiological analyses and statistical assessment of risk factors.

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SAFOSO has supported Swiss genetics, a leading provider of genetic material in Switzerland, in assessing and consolidating current and emerging disease threats to safeguard livestock. Furthermore, this collaboration aimed to evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of existing emergency preparedness protocols, ensuring both the protection of livestock and the continuity of business during animal disease outbreaks.

Kosovo’s Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) has recently established a Risk Assessment Unit and is now taking concrete steps to institutionalize it. Furthermore, efforts are focusing on enhancing collaboration between the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) authorities, also governed by KFVA, and customs agencies in Kosovo, aiming to optimize operations and generate additional advantages for Authorized Economic Operators (AEO’s) at import border controls. To assist KFVA in its endeavors, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been providing support for some time. In May, we went on a mission to Pristina under an IFC mandate to evaluate progress and define the next steps.