Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover health information and services available to students who work intensively with animals to help them manage their health. Through surveys asking university-based student health services (SHS) administrators about services for students at risk of zoonoses or impacted by animal death, surveys of librarians about information resources and outreach, and content exploration of public-facing websites for information on zoonotic diseases and preventive services for students at universities with veterinary colleges (VCs), we found that most SHS provide rabies vaccinations (79%) but fewer address preventing other zoonoses (57%). Rabies information appears on over half (54%) of SHS websites, but other animal-associated health concerns are rarely described. VCs also address rabies (75%) more than other zoonotic diseases (46%), and address animal death-related stress or grief (36%) even more rarely. Most SHS staff use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website (93%) while VCs and librarians mention additional resources. Partnerships involving SHS, colleges, and librarians can facilitate access to zoonotic disease prevention information and promote physical and mental health information to students who work with animals.