Last amendment on 8 September 2012

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Professor MVDr Václav  K o u b a, DrSc.

Former Chief, Animal Health Service, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

 

Born: 16 January 1929, Vrábí, Brandýs n.L. Region, Czech Republic

 

Married: Anna Holèapková (22 January 1955)

Children: Vladimír (1956), Jana (1966)

 

Qualification

 

MVDr - Medicinae Veterinariae Doctor (1953),  University of Veterinary Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Assistant Professor of Epizootiology (1953-54), PhD (CSc)   in Epizootiology (1961),  Habil. Docent - Associate  Professor of Epizootiology  (1966),  DrSc. - Doctor of Veterinary Sciences (1978) and Prof. -  Professor of Epizootiology (1987).

Languages: Spanish (UN attest – 1978), English (UN attest – 1978), French, Russian, German and Italian.

 

Career

 

     University of Veterinary Sciences, Brno

Lecturer of Epizootiology (1953-1954), External Lecturer of Epizootiology (1955-1967),  professor and co-founder of Faculty of Tropical Veterinary Medicine and Director of Institute of Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Sciences, Brno (1985-1988).

     Czechoslovak and Czech State Veterinary Service, Prague

National Chief Epizootiologist and Technical Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer (1956-1967, 1971-1978).                           

     Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy

Animal Health Officer (Research and Education)  (1978-1983), Animal Health Officer (Veterinary Intelligence) (1984) and  Senior Officer (Veterinary Services Group) (1984-1985).    Chief, Animal Health Service, AGAH (1988-1991) responsible for  United Nations global animal health policy and programmes (the highest professional veterinary post within the UN; D-1 director level). Example of responsibility in 1991 - retirement year: 218 AGAH backstopped international animal health projects, including 39 regional/continental ones, in more than 100 countries).

    Visiting Professor of Epizootiology

Havana University, Cuba (1967-1971), Mexico City University, Mexico (1993, 2004), University of Veterinary Sciences, Košice, Slovakia (1993-1998), Czech Agriculture University, Prague (1998-2007), Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague (2008-).

    International Expert

Veterinary Public Health Expert, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva (1971-2005);     Informatics Expert, International Office of Epizootics (OIE), Paris (1979-1991).

 

Achievements/contributions

 

    First isolation of Aujeszky’s disease virus (incl. its eradication) in Czechoslovakia (1954).

 

    Disease eradication

    Main achievements as National Chief Epizootiologist technically responsible for preparation, strategy, methodology, management and results of disease elimination and final eradication national programmes: bovine brucellosis (1959 - 1964), bovine tuberculosis (1959 - 1968), Teschen disease (- 1973), foot-and-mouth disease (- 1975) and hog cholera (- 1979) in Czechoslovakia; Newcastle disease (- 1980), infectious gastroenteritis of swine (- 1981), swine brucellosis (- 1985) and Aujeszky’s disease (- 1987) in Czech Republic.

    Eradication of foot-and-mouth disease in Mongolia (1964) as the Chief of Czechoslovak  veterinary expedition contributing in decisive manner to block panzootic wave and to final eradication during only five months.  More information in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/fmdmongolia.htm.

    Initiator, co-manager and head of working group elaborating programme for mass screening and control measures against animal brucellosis, tuberculosis and glanders in Mongolia covering all provinces implemented by veterinary expeditions of five countries during 1966-1968 (37.6 million specific tests).  More information in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/zoonoses-mongolia.htm.

    As an international specialist contributed to the eradication of African swine fever panzootic in Cuba (1971) in a record time – six weeks (740 550 pigs died and sanitary slaughtered; 45 thousand persons and one thousand persons mobilized).

    As leading FAO animal health officer initiated in 1989 and contributed to the eradication of myiasis Cochliomyia hominivorax panzootic in Northern Africa (in record time – 1991 -  using biological method) regaining free status in the whole Eastern hemisphere (Chairman, FAO/IFAD Action Group for Screwworm Eradication in Northern Africa). More information in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/screwworm.htm.

   As the Chief, Animal Health Service, FAO contributed to rinderpest (the most important killing disease) global eradication programme successfully completed in 2010 - first animal infection globally eradicated !  This was the apex of his professional career. (FAO message on 20 September 2010: “FAO highly values your contribution towards the eradication of Rinderpest ...”.) .More information in  http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/rp_actions3.htm.

 

    Education and training

    Contribution to the establishment and development of postgraduate training of the veterinarians in Czechoslovakia (1955 – 1978).

    Technical Secretary responsible for the Fourth FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Veterinary Education, Uppsala, Sweden (1978).

    Initiator and co-founder of new regional veterinary faculty, Lusaka, Zambia (1980-83).                                  

    Strengthening veterinary faculties in: Kampala, Uganda (1978-81); Kabul, Afghanistan (1980); Maputo, Mozambique (1979), etc..                              

    Development of Animal Health School for Persian Gulf States at Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia (1978-1981).

    Foundation of Epizootiology Department, Havana University, Cuba (1968-1971) including education of future specialists for university teaching and for field practical problem solutions.

    Organizing of and lecturing in many national and international postgraduate courses. E.g. FAO/SIDA International Postgraduate Courses in Pathology and  Reproduction for future university professors (“teach teachers to teach”) held at different Universities (1978-1984): Uppsala, Sweden (1979); Lahore, Pakistan (1978), Tirupati, India (1978) and Bangkok, Thailand (1983) – for Asian participants; Nairobi, Kenya (1980, 1981) for African participants; Mexico City, Mexico (1979) and Lima, Peru (1982) for Latin America participants.

    Initiator, organizer and lecturer of Seminars on Epizootiology and Economics: for Directors General of State Veterinary Services of Francophone African countries in Niamey, Niger (1983) and of Latin America countries in Lima, Peru (1984); for national specialists in Hanoi, Vietnam (1984).

    Training on the application of his EPIZOO software, Toluca University, State of Mexico, Mexico (2004).

 

    Epizootiology development

    Foundation of  action-oriented epizootiology.

    General Epizootiology university textbooks (in Czech, 1972, in Spanish, 1975 and 1987, in English, 1995 and 2004). EPIZTEXT - first electronic textbook of General Epizootiology (1999) (available in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/textbook.htm).

    Research and practical application of methods for animal population health protection and disease control/eradication, particularly in territories with prevailing large animal production units. Development of methods for territorial anti-epizootic planning and managing.

    Development and practical application of preparedness methods for very dangerous diseases – emergency planning and field simulation exercises.

    - Foundation (1958) and development  of Czechoslovak network of provincial and district epizootiologists - as National Chief Epizootiologist.

    Co-foundation of new global FAO/WHO/OIE animal health information system (1979-1991).

    Significant expansion of global network of FAO/WHO reference laboratories and collaborating centres for specific diseases and main branches of veterinary medicine (1988-1991).

 

Duty travels

   Solution of animal population health and disease problems in 75 countries outside of his home country.

 

Publications

    More than 800 articles on epizootiology principles and methods, methodology for local and territorial prevention and eradication of communicable diseases, bovine brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth disease, system of quantitative indicators for animal population health/disease analyses, animal health economics, disease spreading through trade, globalization of diseases, etc. Exhaustive list  in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/publications.htm.

 

Editorial activities

    Editor-in-Chief of the global  trilingual FAO-WHO-OIE Animal Health Yearbook  (1979-1985 and 1987-1988). Editor-in-Chief, FAO New World Screwworm Newsletter (1989-1990). Editor-Assistant, Enfermedades Exoticas, FAO Oficina Regional para America Latina y el Caribe, Santiago, Chile (1988-1991). Member of Editorial Board, World Animal Review, FAO (1988-1992). Member of Editorial Board, Czechoslovak Universities, Prague (1954-1956).

 

Software:

     Complex system of indicators for animal health/disease analyses applicable for any animal species, disease, time and space: Spanish written EPIZOOT (1991);  English written EPIZOO and EPIZMETH  (more than 300 methods) distributed  by  the World Health Organization, Geneva (1993-2004).  Last version 4.0a (2005) is available in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/.

 

Memberships

    World Veterinary Association, Education Committee (1978-1985); International Society of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (1979 -); World Association for the History of Veterinary Medicine (1995 -).

    Member of American  Association for the Advancement  of Science (2001-); Member of Research Board of Advisers, American Biographical Institute, Inc. (2000 -).

    Former member of many scientific councils of different universities and professional institutions. Secretary of Czechoslovak Government Commission for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis (Government Resolution No.781 of 16 September 1959).

 

Awards

    Outstanding Work Order, Czechoslovak Government (1966); State Order, Mongolian Government (1966); State Order, Cuban Government (1973), several awards of Czech and Slovak Ministries of Agriculture and State Veterinary Services.

    Several awards of International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England and of American Biographical Institute, USA (1998-2009).

    Honourable President, Cuban Scientific Society for Epizootiology (1971) and Cuban Veterinary Scientific Society (1982).

 

Conclusion.

 

The basic criterion of the author (as the responsible leader or actively participating specialist) were the practical results - final eradication of transmissible animal diseases: at the local level (hundreds of outbreaks in the former Czechoslovakia during the years 1954-1978), at the entire state level (bovine brucellosis in 1964, bovine tuberculosis in 1968, foot and mouth disease. in 1975 in the former Czechoslovakia; foot and mouth disease in Mongolia in 1964), at the continental level  (eradication of the first and unique case of African swine fever in the Western hemisphere in 1971; eradication of the first and unique case of the myiasis - screwworm Cochliomyia hominivorax in the Eastern hemisphere in 1991, the eradication of foot and mouth disease in Europe in 1991) and at global level (worldwide  eradication of rinderpest in 2010).

 

Global historical priority products elaborated by Prof. Dr V. Kouba as the first author in the world:

-         first English written university textbookGeneral Epizootiology“ in 1995;

-         first Spanish written university textbookEpizootiología general“ in 1975;

-         first electronic university textbookGeneral Epizootiology“ in 1999;

-         first software for complex analyses of population health and diseases (containing about 300 methods written in English), applicable for any disease at any place and time used in animal as well as in human medicine, called EPIZOO  (globally distributed by World Health Organization, Geneva) in 1993.

 

 

References

 

 Marquis Who´s Who in the World 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

 

 Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering 1998, 1999, 2000/2001, 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008, 2008/2009

 

Marquis Who´s Who in America  2009

 

The American Biographical Institute, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA:

 

 1000 Leaders of World Influence, 2000, 2001

  Leading Intellectuals of the World, 2000/2001, 2002/2003

  500 Leaders of World Influence, 2001, 2003, 2004

  Great Minds of the 21st Century, 2001, 2002, 2007/2008, 2010 (Fifth Edition)

  Greatest Minds of the 21st Century, 2004

  The Contemporary Who’s Who, 2003, second edition

  The Contemporary Who’s Who of Professionals, 2004/2005, 2007

  International Directory of Experts and Expertise, 2006

  Register of the World’s Most Respected Experts, 2007

  International Profiles of Accomplished Leaders + Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007

  The Book of Knowledge, 2004

  500 Greatest Geniuses of the 21st Century, 2008

 

International  Biographical  Centre (IBC),  Cambridge, England:

 

  2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century, 2000, 2001

  Leading Intellectuals of the World, 2000/2001, 2002/2003

  Who’s Who in the 21st Century,2002

  One Thousand Great Scientists, 2002

  500 Founders of the 21st Century, 2001

  The First Five Hundred, 2003/2004

  2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 21st Century, 2001, 2002, 2004/5, 2006

  2000 Eminent Scientists of Today, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

  2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008

  Dictionary of International Biography, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 (36th Edition)

  International Biographical Centre, 2003, 2004

  2000 Outstanding Europeans of the 21st Century, 2002, 2003

  Leading Educators of the 21st Century, 2002

  Great Lives of the 21st Century, 2004

  Outstanding People of the 21 Century, 2008

  The Cambridge Blue Book of Foremost International Scientists – 2007, 2008

  2000 Outstanding Scientists 2008/2009, 2010

  The International Register of Profiles, 2001, 2003

 

Longman Group UK Limited:

       - Who’s Who in Science in Europe, Volume 3, seventh edition, 1990

   

 More information see in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/references.ppt.

 

A n n e x

                         

International nominations and awards offered by:

 

International  Biographical  Centre   (IBC),  Cambridge, England:

 

- International Man of the Year 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2010

- Outstanding Scientist of the 20th Century Medal, 2001

- International Order of Merit, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

- Outstanding Speaker Award, 2000

- Associate of the International Biographical Centre, 2000

- International Personality of the Year 2001

- International Scientist of the Year 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008

- Deputy Director General of the IBC

- The Order of International Fellowship 2003

- Vice Consul of the IBC - 2003

- International Biographical Centre Living Legends, 2003

- International Ambassador of Goodwill, 2003

- The Worldwide Honours List, 2003

- 21th Century Award for Achievement, 2001, 2003, 2008

- The Lifetime of Achievement One Hundred, 2001, 2003, 2004

- Order of Distinction, 2003

- Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award, 2004

- Living Science Award, 2004

- The Hall of Fame, 2004

- World Peace and Diplomatic Forum, 2004

- IBC Companion of Honour, 2002

- IBC Living Legends, 2003

- One-in-a Million Medal, 2000

- Individual Awards Recognizing Outstanding Achievement, 2002

- Scientific Faculty, Cambridge, EnglandFounder Member, 2001

- Vice Consul of the International Biographical Centre, 2003

- Deputy Director General, IBC,2002

- Top 100 ScientistsPinnacle of Achievement Award 2005

- The IBC Meritorious Decoration, 2005

- The Archimedes Award, 2006

- Top 100 Scientists – 2006, 2005, 2007, 2008

- International Biographical Association Scientist of the Year for 2006

- Inaugural  Member of the IBC Leading Scientists of the World 2006

- Outstanding Scientist of the 21st CenturyInaugural Edition, 2007

- International Medal of Honour, 2006, 2007, 2008

- I.B.C. Diploma of Achievement 2006/2007

- The Cambridge Blue Book – 2008 – Awards

- Leading Scientists of the World, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

- Adviser to Director general, IBC, 2000

- IBC Foremost Scientists of the World - 2008

- International Professional of the Year 2008

- Leading Educators in the World – 2008

- International Educator of the Year 2008

- Top 100 Educators 2009

- The International Einstein Award for Scientific Achievement, 2009

- The Da Vinci Diamond – Da Vinci Laureate 2009

- I.B.C. Research Academy Certificate of Assistance 2011

 

 The American Biographical Institute (ABI), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA:

 

- Year 2000 Universal Award of Accomplishment, 2000

- Man of the Year 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010

- World Laureate of the American Biographical Institute, 2001

- 2001 Platinum Record for Exceptional Performance

- Induction into the American Hall of Fame for Distinguished Accomplishments, 2003, 2009

- American Medal of Honor, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

- The Contemporary Elite, 2004

- World Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004

- The Contemporary Diamond Award, 2004

- Universal Award of Accomplishment, 2000, 2001

- Outstading Man of the 21st Century,2002

- The World Book of Knowledge, 2004

- Gold Record of Achievement for the Year 2002

- Presidential Seal of Honor, 2002

- Member of the World Institute of Achievement, 2000

- 2005 Man of Achievement Award

- 2006 Man of Achievement Award

- Man of the Year – A Celebrated Collection of Biographies – 1990-2006

- Gold medal for the Czech Republic, 2006, 2007, 2010

- The World Medal of Freedom, 2006

- Listed in the Register of the World’s Most Respective Experts, 2006

- Consulting Editor of International Profiles of Accomplished Leaders, 2007

- 2006 Man of Science Award

- Leading Scientists of the World, 2006

- Order of International Embassadors, 2001

- Consulting Editor of the Contemporary Who’s Who, 2002, 2003

- The Research Board of Advisorsmember, 2002, 2003

- ABI Research Fellow, 2005, 2006

- The Board of Governors of the ABI – membership offer

- The 100 Most Intriguing People of 2002

-  Man of the Year in Science 2008, 2009

- Most Notable Intellectual 2008

- Man of the Year representing Czech Republic 2009, 2010

- Induction into the 2009 Order of International Merit

- Albert Einstein Award of Excellence for 2011

- 2011 Man of the Year in Medicine and Healthcare

 

Others:

 

United Cultural Convention (The Office of the General-in-Residence), USA:

                                                            - International Peace Price, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007

London Diplomatic Academy – offer of the membership, 2004

The American Biographical Institute Research Association – offer of the membership

                                                        and of Deputy Governor  post, 2001

World Academy of Letters - Einsteinian Chair of Science, 2004

                                                -  Master Diploma, with honors, 2005

American Association for the Advancement of Science – 2001 Membership  Certificate

World Peace and Diplomacy Forum – membership offer, 2004

 

More information see in http://vaclavkouba.byl.cz/nominations.ppt.