The mission of the department is to improve the health and wellbeing of the human populations in the tropics. It does so by developing, disseminating and applying scientific knowledge of tropical livestock diseases. To reach these goals, the department conducts innovative and applied research, supports postgraduate training and education, and contributes to control programmes of tropical animal and zoonotic diseases.

The department is involved in several projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America and collaborates closely with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Ghent and the Faculty of Veterinary Science of the University of Pretoria.