The AASV committees will meet again this year on Saturday morning March 10th at the AASV Annual Meeting in Denver, CO. All committee members are encouraged to attend. The meeting times and locations are posted online at http://www.aasv.org/annmtg/2012/Committees/CommitteeMeetings.htm. Click on the committee name to access the meeting agenda. If you are interested in joining a committee, please contact the committee chair or the AASV staff.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
“AASV Veterinarians – Sign up to “”Speed Interview”” Students in Denver”
AASV members, are you seeking to hire a new veterinary graduate, or do you have opportunities in your practice or business for student interns who want to gain more experience in swine medicine? Would you like to meet the “up and coming” generation of swine veterinarians? Don’t miss the opportunity to “speed interview” 3rd- and 4th-year veterinary students at the AASV Annual Meeting in Denver! The AASV Student Recruitment Committee is once again coordinating this efficient networking activity for veterinarians and veterinary students. The interviews will take place Sunday, March 11, from 5:00-6:30 PM at the conference hotel. Space is limited, so if you are interested in participating, please contact Shamus Brown as soon as possible: wsbrown@iastate.edu or 515-450-7554.
AASV Office Closed March 8-14
The AASV office will be closed Thursday, March 8 through Wednesday March 14 to allow staff to travel to and from Denver to conduct the 2012 AASV Annual Meeting. Online meeting registration will close Tuesday evening (March 6), so if you haven’t already registered, please do so now! Registrations will also be accepted on-site. The AASV office will reopen on Thursday, March 15. See you in Denver!
Exploding Hog Barns Beckon University of Minnesota Researchers
A team is investigating foam that has caused Midwest swine barns to unexpectedly explode.
Reversing Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotics by Phage-Mediated Delivery of Dominant Sensitive Genes
Pathogen resistance to antibiotics is a rapidly growing problem, leading to an urgent need for novel antimicrobial agents. Unfortunately, development of new antibiotics faces numerous obstacles, and a method that will resensitize pathogens to approved antibiotics therefore holds key advantages. We present a proof-of-principle for a system that restores antibiotic efficiency by reversing pathogen resistance. This system uses temperate phages to introduce, by lysogenization, genes rpsL and gyrA conferring sensitivity in a dominant fashion to two antibiotics, streptomycin and nalidixic acid, respectively. Unique selective pressure is generated to enrich for bacteria that harbor the phages encoding the sensitizing constructs. This selection pressure is based on a toxic compound, tellurite, and therefore does not forfeit any antibiotic for the sensitization procedure. We further demonstrate a possible way of reducing undesirable recombination events by synthesizing dominant sensitive genes with major barriers to homologous recombination. Such synthesis does not significantly reduce the gene’s sensitization ability. Unlike conventional bacteriophage therapy, the system does not rely on the phage’s ability to kill pathogens in the infected host, but instead, to deliver genetic constructs into the bacteria, and thus render them sensitive to antibiotics prior to host infection. We believe that transfer of the sensitizing cassette by the constructed phages will significantly enrich for antibiotic-treatable pathogens on hospital surfaces. Broad usage of the proposed system, in contrast to antibiotics and phage therapy, will potentially change the nature of nosocomial infections toward being more susceptible to antibiotics rather than more resistant.
PRRS Corner: Addressing Current Challenges
The AASV PRRS task force has been integrally involved in the progress and its first effort led by Drs. Derald Holtkamp, Dale Polson and Montse Torremorell was the sow herd classification guideline (2010 JSHAP). Its second project was initiated at the 2010 committee meeting and is led by Dr. Jim Lowe. This is the development of a standard operating protocol for managing sow herds in an effort to manage PRRS virus and potentially move herds from being positive and unstable to negative.
New Modified-live PRRS Vaccine
Fostera⢠PRRS, a modified-live vaccine for growing pigs from Pfizer Animal Health. Researchers created unique cell lines that were able to express a newly discovered key receptor protein for the PRRS virus (PRRSv). This innovative thinking was pivotal in bringing Fostera PRRS to the pork industry.
Removing Fiber from DDGS Results in Superior Product for Swine
Removing fiber from dried distillers grains with solubles using the elusieve process results in an enhanced product with greater nutritional value for growing and finishing pigs, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Tools Under Development to Help Producers Evaluate Group Housing Systems
New tools being developed by the University of Manitoba will help pork producers planning to switch to group housing of gestating sows identify the system that will best match their individual operations.
People on the Move: Dr. Bob Evelsizer
Dr. Bob Evelsizer recently accepted a position as professional services veterinarian with Novartis Animal Health. He was formerly employed by Ralco Animal Nutrition. Updated contact information for Dr. Evelsizer is available at www.aasv.org/members/only/directory.php. Are you on the move? If so, let us know at aasv@aasv.org.