KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Food safety and America's ability to handle outbreaks of catastrophic animal diseases are being threatened by a projected shortage in food animal veterinarians, a new study shows.

The study, commissioned in 2004 by a coalition of veterinary organizations and conducted by Kansas State University's College of Business Administration, projects a major shortfall in the vets, which specialize in handling livestock, by 2016.

The projected shortfall comes as Americans are increasingly aware of bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease, and meat exports have been curtailed by skeptical nations like Japan, which has twice cited concerns over mad cow disease in closing its lucrative market to U.S. beef.

"Not having enough veterinarians in rural communities, out in the field, to do adequate disease surveillance threatens our food security," said Dr. Lyle Vogel, director of the Animal Welfare Division of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The shortfall is also expected to affect government agencies like the U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is entrusted with protecting U.S. agricultural health.

The study also debunked the myth that food animal veterinarians earn less than small-animal practices. According to 2003 data from the AVMA, only 4 percent of all veterinarians worked exclusively on large animals. But their median income was about $6,000 per year more than those working exclusively on small animals.

But donning overalls and rubber boots to deliver calves at all hours of the night remains an intrinsic part of the job — an unappealing aspect to students who are coming in fewer numbers from rural backgrounds.