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NORTH GRAFTON, Mass.(April 6, 2020)In the latest in a series of efforts by Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University to help keep the people and animals in its local communities healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, the schools dean joined forces Thursday with Graftons state representative to deliver a supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to UMass Memorial Medical Center. Throughout the crisis, the school has donated critical medical supplies to human healthcare facilities, continued to provide emergency and essential veterinary care for its patients, and pursued research projects to help better understand and potentially contribute to treatments for COVID-19.

The schools latest donation of PPE, part of a broader effort by the university to support its local communities and hospitals during the pandemic, was hand-delivered by Alastair Cribb, dean of Cummings School, and state Rep. David K. Muradian, Jr., of Grafton, in an effort to help medical center personnel who are on the front lines of the crisis. This donation was among many the school has made since mid-March, including:

I continue to be amazed by the support from our community during this pandemic, said Michael Gustafson, president, UMass Memorial Medical Center. Donations of PPE like those from Cummings School are helping us to keep our caregivers and our patients safe.

And, in an effort to increase food security for the members of its local community, Cummings School Farm is donating 30 dozen eggs per week, which are being provided to the Grafton Food Pantry and other local food pantries.

The donations Cummings School has made and its many contributions to the health and wellness of the people and animals of our communities will have a significant impact for all of us in the Greater Worcester area, said Rep. Muradian.

Continued services

In an effort to conserve this valuable PPE and to minimize risk of COVID-19 spread, Foster Hospital for Small Animals, Tufts VETS and the Hospital for Large Animals have remained open for emergency and emergent patient cases only, with new protocols to limit person-to-person contact.

As veterinarians, we have a societal responsibility to care for animals in order to uphold the human-animal bond and the mental health of animal owners in a time of great stress, while preserving supplies sorely needed in the human health care system, said Dean Cribb.

Ensuring the integrity of food supply and the livelihood of farmers is also essential for public health and economic viability. Tufts Veterinary Field Service in Woodstock, CT, continues to treat large animal emergencies and perform herd health visits to dairy farms.

Research

Veterinarians contributions to public health go beyond the vital care of animalsthey play a critical role in the development of new therapies and vaccines. They also are crucial to infectious-disease surveillance, especially around pathogens that originate in nature and spread from wildlife to humans, as is suspected with COVID-19. Cummings School researchers are currently involved in multiple research projects related to the study of COVID-19, including readying Tufts New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory for critical studies around the virus, both by Tufts University researchers and other researchers in the community.

For more information about Cummings Schools COVID response and guidance on bringing animals to our facilities for treatment during this pandemic, please visit: https://vet.tufts.edu/latest-updates-from-cummings-school-and-tufts-university/. And, to learn more about how Tufts University as a whole is contributing to COVID-19 efforts, please visit: https://coronavirus.tufts.edu/.

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About Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University

Founded in 1978 in North Grafton, Mass., Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University is internationally esteemed for academic programs that impact society and the practice of veterinary medicine; seven teaching hospitals and clinics that combined log more than 100,000 animal cases each year; and groundbreaking research that benefits animal, human, and environmental health.

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Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University sends personal protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies to area...

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