It’s only fitting that the person who serves as the State Veterinarian is both a Wisconsin native and an SVM alumna. Darlene Konkle (DVM ‘93, MS ’97), originally from Freedom, has devoted the bulk of her professional career to serving Wisconsin as a top advocate for animal and human health, and emphasizing the importance of connecting them.
“In animal health we look at the big picture, looking at the biggest threats and how we can address them collaboratively across different agencies and organizations,” she says. “Bringing the concept of One Health – animal, human and environment – to the forefront is extremely important.”
After receiving her degree from UW-Madison’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences in Dairy Science, she went on to receive her DVM and then her MS in Veterinary Science. After working in mixed animal practice for a time, she returned to SVM to do a Large Animal residency. Following that, she spent a year in Canada as a clinical instructor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She then transitioned back into private equine practice in Kentucky, and, eventually, back home in Wisconsin.
The state first tapped into Konkle’s expertise in 2005, when she joined the DATCP’s Division of Animal Health as an education and outreach veterinarian in the Johne’s disease program. Shortly thereafter, she became the veterinary emergency program manager – the position that solidified her focus on monitoring threats to the state’s livestock sector and working to enhance protections.
In 2013 she was named Assistant State Veterinarian; five years later she became Acting State Veterinarian. The post became permanent the following year when she was officially appointed by DATCP Secretary-designee Brad Pfaff.
As the state’s top vet, Konkle oversees a team of 45 professionals in the Division of Animal Health. “From livestock to companion animals, from animal transport companies to licensing needs, we are the team who ensures the health of all animals is protected,” she says. “We also collaborate closely with animal-related organizations and veterinarians across the state.”
Of course, diseases that affect animal and human health don’t pay attention to geographic boundaries, as evidenced by the current strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) that has kept animal and public health officials busy the past few years. “We are always monitoring and looking at trends and when this current strain first showed up in North America in 2021, we were already paying close attention,” she says. “We responded early and proactively to stop spread when it showed up in poultry, and we knew it could infect mammals from previous collaboration with wildlife biologists, but I don’t know that many of us expected to see widespread infection in dairy cattle.”
While the appearance of H5N1 in dairy cattle is concerning, Konkle also feels pride that systems she helps lead are working, citing the response as “a great example of how we’ve used connections we already had with public health and wildlife health to share information and monitor how a virus is acting.” (See “Kibble” on page 9 for links to other news and resources on the topic).
Konkle intends to keep working hard every day to protect the health of animals, people and the environment in Wisconsin – a task that comes in many shapes and sizes. She cites everything from constantly monitoring disease trends worldwide to supporting partnerships her program managers have with SVM’s WisCARES and Shelter Medicine programs.
Reflecting on her time at SVM, Konkle sees how it helped shape the veterinarian she would become. “Veterinary medicine is such a broad field, and there are so many important paths you can take,” she says. “I’ve had opportunities to change direction over the years, all of which have been formative and informative –much of what I’ve learned and how I’ve made choices goes back to classes and instructors at SVM.”