Anna Catharina Björnsdotter Berge
DVM, MSc, MPVM, PhD

Veterinary Epidemiology Consultant, Berge Veterinary Consulting

Guest Professor at the Veterinary Epidemiology Unit
Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University

Academic record:

  • International School of Brussels, Belgium
  • 1985, International Baccalaureate            
  • Swedish Agricultural University,
  • 1991 Masters of Science                        
  • 1991 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine        
  • University of California,
  • 2000 Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine  
  • 2004 PhD in Comparative Pathology                     
  • 2010 Ghent University, Professor in the Veterinary Epidemiology Unit    

Languages spoken: Fluent in Swedish, English, French and Dutch (Flemish), and limited Spanish
Computer: Word, spreadsheets, data handling, communication tools, Powerpoint, Adobe Illustrator
Statistical software; SAS, Stata, SPSS, StatXact, @Risk, CMA (meta-analysis)

Professional experience:

  • National Food Administration            Veterinary meat inspector    June-Aug. 1989
  • Porcine Health Organization              Animal health veterinarian    June-Aug. 1990
  • Swedish Board of Agriculture            Large Animal Veterinarian     June-Aug. 1991
  • Swedish Board of Agriculture            Large Animal Veterinarian     April-Oct.1992
  • Swedish Board of Agriculture            Veterinary Inspector             Oct. 92-Aug. 95
  • National Food Administration            Senior Veterinary Inspector  Sept. 95-July 98
  • European Commission                     National Expert                    March 96- Dec 96
  • University of California, Davis           Graduate researcher             May 99- Dec 04
  • University of California, Davis           Post doctorate researcher    Jan 05 - June 07
  • Washington State University            Post doctorate researcher     July 07 – Oct 08
  • Berge Veterinary Consulting             Independent consultant         Jan 09 – present
  • Ghent University                              Guest Professor                   Feb 10- present

Other academic or professional experiences:

  • 1985-86. International School of Brussels: Private tutor  in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology
  • Feb-April 1995. Veterinary official from an adhesion country at The European Commission DG VI/B.II.2
  • June 1996. ISO 9001 Lead Assessor Course by Lloyds, Campden, United Kingdom
  • Nov 1996. Wild game disease & meat inspection course by National Food Administration/National Veterinary Institute
  • March 1996. European Commission exchange program for Official Veterinarians,  Portugal
  • Sept 1997. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), National Food Administration
  • Sept 1999. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA, Diarrheal and Foodborne Disease Branch.
  • Sept 2003. Multi-level modeling, Chicago, IL
  • Sept 2005. CSREES Writing competitive grants workshop, Moscow, Idaho
  • Sept 2005. Public Health Policy workshop, University of California, Davis, CA
  • Aug 2006. Microbial Risk Assessment. Center for Advancement of Microbial Risk Assessment, University of Michigan, MI
  • Nov 2006-2007. California Agricultural Leadership Fellowship. – A two year fellowship to develop leadership in agriculture.

Invited and or main speaker
  • 1993-1995, Swedish Board of Agriculture, Sweden’s animal health in the European Union. A seminar series for veterinary practitioners, officers and students in all regions of Sweden.
  • January 1999, International Seminars at UC Davis, Davis, CA, “Animal welfare in Sweden”
  • February 1999, International Seminars at UC Davis, CA, “The Swedish Salmonella Control Program”
  • March 2001, Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, The Netherlands, “Assessing dynamics of antibiotic resistance in fecal Escherichia coli in young calves using Cluster analysis techniques.”
  • Jan. 2002, North Valley Dairy Day in California., Orland, CA,  “Antibiotic resistance in calves.”
  • March 2002, CDC meeting on Multi-drug Resistant Salmonella Newport, Atlanta, GE, “Using antibiotic susceptibility patterns and PFGE to study the emergence of a unique strain of Salmonella Newport in dairy cattle.”
  • June 2004, Texas A&M, College Station, TX, “Antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in enteric Escherichia coli in pre-weaned dairy calves.”
  • Nov. 2004, United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) Committee on Salmonella, Greensboro, NC, “Using antibiotic susceptibility patterns and pulse field gel electrophoresis to compare historic and contemporary isolates of multi-drug resistant Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Newport.” "Time Specific Scientific Papers", 
  • Feb. 2003, International Seminars at UC Davis. CA, “Animal welfare in Sweden and European Union.”
  • May 2005, Ohio State University: “Antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in enteric Escherichia coli in pre-weaned dairy calves.”
  • Aug. 2005, UC Davis. “The risks of Salmonella and Antibiotic Resistance in pre-weaned calves” and “Risk factors associated with antibiotic resistance in fecal Escherichia coli in pre-weaned calves.”
  • Oct. 2005, Calf College, Fresno, Madeira, Chino, California,  “Antibiotic resistance and Salmonella in pre-weaned calves. What could be done? What should be done?” and “Raising healthy calves with less antibiotics”
  • July 2006, Lander Veterinary Clinic, Turlock, CA, “Raising healthy calves with less antibiotic use”.
  • Dec. 2006, Schering-Plough Vet to vet symposium.NE. “Disease and therapy principles in intensive calf rearing systems.”March-Oct 2006, Expert advice to the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) on calf welfare
  • Jan. 2007, International Seminars at UC Davis, CA. “Animal welfare in Sweden”
  • March 2007, Visalia, CA. California Laboratory Technician Seminar. Food-related and environmental flow of Salmonella enterica and its impact on human infection.
  • June 2007, National Carcass Composting Meeting. UC Davis, Ca. “Carcass composting- a literature review”. Expert panelist.
  • March 2008, Alltech Calf health College. Albany, OR, “The risks of antimicrobial resistance and raising calves with less antimicrobials in feed and for therapy”
  • July 2008, Alltech Calf health College. OR and WA, “The risks of antimicrobial resistance and raising calves with less antimicrobials in feed and for therapy”
  • March 2009, Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, London, UK. Chairing (with Prof. DeWulf) a workshop on the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance.
  • May 2009, Alltech Annual Symposium. Kentucky, USA. ‘Protecting animal health and product quality. Do we have a solution for the Salmonella problem in dairy cattle?’
  • July 2009, International Society for Animal Health. ‘Salmonella, current European perspective.’, Germany.
  • Dec 2009, Society of Feed Technology Annual Meeting.  ‘Nutritional approaches to reduce Salmonella in pig production’, UK.
  • Dec 2009, Ruminant Solutions Seminar ‘Healthy calves this winter’ Czech republic.
  • March 2010, Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Nantes, FR. Chairing (with Prof. DeWulf) a workshop on the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance.
  • May 2010, Alltech Annual Symposium. ‘Meeting the zero standards for Salmonella in pig meat while feeding the world’
  • Aug 2010, European Association of Animal Production. ‘Nutritional strategies to combat Salmonella in EU food animal production’. Crete, Greece.
  • Sept 2010, Russian Ruminant Solutions Seminar, Estonia, ‘Healthy heifers- a good start is essential for future health and production.
  • Nov 2010, Dairy Solutions Seminar, ‘Increasing lifetime performance of the cow starts with the heifer calf’ Hannover, Germany.
  • Nov 2010, Russian Technical Poultry Seminar, ‘Salmonella control in poultry, strategy, goals and tools in the European Union, Moscow, Russia.
  • March 2011, Latin America Technical Poultry Seminar, 'Salmonella control in poultry in EU', Belo Horizonte, Brazil.