Alasdair King | Executive Director, International Veterinary Health
Merck Animal Health

Alasdair King qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Glasgow University in 1990.  After 11 years in mixed practice he joined Intervet UK as livestock veterinary advisor.  Amongst other roles in the UK, he took on responsibility for company pharmacovigilance as the National PV Manager, and developed the UK focus on transboundary and emerging diseases as Government Liaison Officer.  During this time he was responsible for working on the avian influenza vaccine banks and led the company response in the UK to the Bluetongue serotype 8 outbreak, working with the government to establish a vaccine roll out plan.  In addition he was responsible for communications with all forms of media within MSD Animal Health and was part of the crisis management team.  In 2012 he joined the Institutional Sales Department of MSD Animal Health, based in Boxmeer, with the main responsibility for FMD.
Now the Executive Director of International Veterinary Health, he has developed the emergence newsletter and website to provide information on emerging and transboundary diseases, as well as being host of the emergence podcast. He works with a number of governments and organisations on disease control plans and strategies, with a focus on vaccine accessibility and education, alongside surveillance and monitoring. He has worked with the WHO, WOAH, and FAO on a number of projects, participating in working groups on such subjects as rabies elimination, FMD vaccine pre-qualification, training for para-professionals in developing countries, and access to medicines.