FOX 5 Special: Watching Our Food Supply

ATLANTA (MyFOX ATLANTA) - Diseases like the H1N1 flu virus, SARS, salmonella and E. coli can not only prove deadly, they can spread from animals to humans and it starts right on the farm. Veterinarians are often the first line of defense in protecting our nation's food supply, but a shortage of vets has some health experts sounding the alarm.

"We'll start many mornings before the sun comes up usually. Probably 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. we are on the farm working," said Dr. Bob Patrick, a large animal veterinarian. "We'll have at least three scheduled stops and then total we'll have five to seven calls today," said Dr. Patrick.

That's an average day's work for Dr. Patrick and Dr. Emmanuel Rollin.

"We do it because we love it. We like the animals we like the people we work with," said Rollin.

On a recent morning at the Madison Dairy Farm, Dr. Rollin and Dr. Patrick performed surgery on a cow with digestive problems.

The doctors specialize in the care of large farm animals like cows, sheep and other livestock that are vital to the U.S. food supply. On a typical day, the veterinarians perform examinations and handle milking issues.

"Our work is a lot of what we call population medicine. We're treating not as much the individual cow as much as we are trying to keep the whole population of animals healthy and performing like they should," said Dr. Patrick.

Agricultural experts are sounding the alarm as the number of rural veterinarians caring for large populations of farm animals dwindle which is threatening the nation's food supply.

"The veterinarian serves as the first line of defense for what we call reportable animal diseases and there are things we can see out there prior to it becoming a full blown epidemic," said Dr. Patrick.

State veterinarian Dr. Carter Black said his department has identified 35 countries in Georgia that have no large animal practitioners.

"About 30 of them are counties where there are not practitioners in counties that adjoin them," said Dr. Black.

The shortage isn't only being felt on the farm. The U.S. Department of Agriculture , the Centers for Disease Control and other agencies are scrambling to fill key veterinary positions, like government inspectors and researchers.

Experts are calling the shortage a crisis and they say it begins at vet schools.

There are only 28 vet schools across the country, so competition to get in is fierce. The University of Georgia receives about 550 applicants a year for just over 100 positions.

Obtaining a veterinary degree is also expensive. The average degree costs about $100,000.

Experts also say that very few young vets are interested in living in rural areas, in part because small animal practices tend to be more lucrative and are usually in urban areas.

"It really has reached a crisis proportion, at this point in time," said Dr. Sheila Allen, Dean of the Veterinary College at UGA .

Dr. Allen said the university is building a new facility that will allow them to enroll an extra 50 vet students over the next few years.

UGA officials are also working to attract large animal vets at a younger age.

"One thing we've done is cooperated with the [agriculture] school and we recruit even at the high school level and early admissions program for students who are interested in pursuing a career in rural practice," said Dr. Allen.

If those students succeed as undergrads, they are automatically accepted into the UGA vet school.

The state is also working to get federal funds to help attract vets in rural areas.

"They establish a decent practice there. They get the majority, over the four year period, they get the majority of their loan paid off and hopefully they'll say, well this is not a bad way of life," said Dr. Allen.

For now, rural vets like Dr. Patrick do what they can to keep up with the growing demand for their service.

"It's a big country, a lot of area to cover and not many of us out there doing it," Dr. Patrick said.

Experts say some farmers who don't have a veterinarian in their communities, are forced to treat animals themselves, with limited medical experience.