In what turned out to be a close election, former AASV president Dr. Rick Sibbel was defeated in his bid to represent District VII on the AVMA Executive Board. The AASV, along with the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and Iowa Veterinary Medical Association, had endorsed Dr. Sibbel’s candidacy, noting his understanding of issues involving food animal medicine as well as his extensive AVMA experience. Dr. Clark K. Fobian, a companion animal practitioner in Sedalia, Mo., won the election and will take office at the close of the 2006 AVMA House of Delegates session. His constituency will comprise AVMA members in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Monthly Archives: March 2006
JSHAP seeks reviewers
Please help us to update our file of reviewer names and specialties. If you are willing to act as a reviewer for Journal of Swine Health and Production manuscripts, please contact our publications manager, Karen Richardson, at pub_mgr@aasv.org, and provide your area(s) of expertise. Thank you for your help.
Merial Granted Permit for PMWS Vaccine in Canada
Merial was recently granted a special import permit to allow the importation and distribution in Canada of Circovac, a vaccine designed to protect against Post-weaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS).
High Mortality Syndrome in Growing/ Finishing Pigs
Swine producers and veterinarians have recently expressed concerns about increased mortality in growing pigs. The clinical signs reportedly resemble those often associated with PMWS. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) has partnered with the Purdue University Regional Visual Analytic Center (PURVAC) to develop a tool to better understand this syndrome.
Directed antigen delivery as a vaccine strategy for an intracellular bacterial pathogen
We have developed a vaccine strategy for generating an attenuated strain of an intracellular bacterial pathogen that, after uptake by professional antigen-presenting cells, does not replicate intracellularly and is readily killed. However, after degradation of the vaccine strain within the phagolysosome, target antigens are released into the cytosol for endogenous processing and presentation for stimulation of CD8+ effector T cells.
Position Announcement: Director, On-farm Food Safety
Farmland Foods, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, is seeking applications for the Director of On-farm Food Safety. This position will be responsible for vision, development, implementation and ongoing management of activities and programs related to Process Verification, Certification of on-farm practices and Animal Handling/Welfare. Additional opportunity to conduct in-company research is available.
Bacon High in Omega-3 Fatty Acids Developed
Scientists at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Harvard Medical School have introduced genetic material from common roundworms into swine eggs to produce pork that is high in omega-3 fatty acids. The research findings were reported in the online version of Nature Biotechnology.
TB Hogs Quarantined in West Virginia
West Virginia Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass quarantined four farms following the illegal importation of hogs from Ohio potentially exposed to tuberculosis.
Annual meeting opening night reception photos online
Photos taken at the AASV Annual Meeting Opening Night Reception, co-sponsored by Schering-Plough Animal Health and the AASV, are available online at http://www.cmaconsulting.smugmug.com. The reception was held at the Negro Leagues Baseball/American Jazz Museum in Kansas City and featured food, fun, and a special presentation by former Negro Leaguer Buck O’Neil.
February Pork Production Sets Record
According to statistics just released by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), pork production in February totaled 1.63 billion pounds, up slightly from the previous year. Hog kill totaled 8.05 million head, 1 percent below February 2005. The average live weight was 2 pounds above the previous year, at 272 pounds.