During the AASV Annual Meeting, 29 veterinary students interviewed conference speakers to gain additional information about their presentation topic. The first of these MP3 audio interviews is now available to members on the AASV website at https://www.aasv.org/members/only/pod/. Student member Erin Jobman interviewed Dr. Mike Brumm who presented âThings to know about environmental sustainability: Keeping energy bills tamedâ in the “Practical Interventions that Impact Swine Housing” Pre-Conference Seminar. Watch for additional podcast interviews in the coming weeks!
Monthly Archives: May 2015
NAHLN and the Veterinary Diagnostic Labs Need Your Support
The American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) has been engaged in federal advocacy for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) since funding was deleted by Congress a few years ago. Since that time AAVLD has made significant progress, as listed below:Restoring funding from ZERO to $7 millionIncreasing 2014 total funding to $12 millionA new, additional $15 million authorization for the NAHLN in the Farm BillCoalition building (120 signatories to Congress requesting support for the NAHLN)Education of key staffers and legislatorsâ¦. most did not know AAVLD nor did they know about the NAHLN
ASF, FMD Swine Surveillance Pilot Project
The United States swine industry and USDA need your help. AASV, National Pork Board and National Pork Producers Council support USDAâs pilot project to evaluate a foreign animal disease (FAD) surveillance system. As part of comprehensive and integrated surveillance, select diagnostic labs now have the ability to test case-qualifying samples for African swine fever (ASF) and foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the same way they have been testing for classical swine fever (CSF) since 2009.
Research Demonstrates Feasibility of Automating Washing of Swine Transport Vehicles
Research conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc suggest technology commonly used to clean up waste in other industries followed by a combination of disinfectants and heat can reduce the amount of time and water required to clean and disinfect trailers used to transport swine. [Source: Farmscape.ca, May 25, 2015]
Position Announcement: Faculty Member in Swine Health and Production
The University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine announces a career opportunity for a non-tenure track faculty position in Swine Health and Production. The College seeks a highly motivated individual with the ability to build and lead education programs that contribute to advancing swine health and production in the DVM and post-DVM curriculum. The faculty member in this position will also provide outreach to producers and veterinarians on current health and production issues facing the U.S and global swine industry, and will have leverage to establish an independent or collaborative research program. The individual will work in collaboration with other faculty and industry partners to address health and production areas of relevance to the U.S pork industry. Appointments will be at the rank of assistant or associate professor, depending on qualifications and experience and consistent with collegiate and University policies.
Pigs and High-Path Avian Influenza
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has recently been diagnosed in the US in Minnesota, Missouri, Arkansas, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Birds in the affected flocks have experienced high mortality and measures have been put in place to quarantine and depopulate the affected flocks. Contact with wild birds is considered the most likely source of infection for domestic poultry. [Reprinted as posted on UMN Swine Disease Eradication Center website (SDEC)]
Harker, Karriker Prevail in AASV District Elections
Drs. Jeff Harker and Locke Karriker have been elected to serve 3-year terms on the AASV Board of Directors, representing districts 4 (Indiana & Michigan) and 6 (Iowa), respectively.
Federal Veterinarians: Efforts Needed to Improve Workforce Planning
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken actions to ensure that component agencies include veterinarians in workforce planning efforts for meeting routine needs, but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has not done so. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified top leadership involvement as a key principle for workforce planning. For example, USDA provided guidance to its component agencies to assess and develop strategies for its workforce. In accordance with this guidance, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)-the agency that inspects slaughter plants-developed a workforce plan that included recruitment incentives and other strategies for veterinarians. HHS’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also included veterinarians in its workforce plans, but HHS did not provide guidance or direction to FDA or other component agencies to do so. GAO recommended in 2009 that USDA and HHS conduct department-wide assessments of their veterinarian workforces. The efforts of USDA and its component agencies met the intent of the recommendation. GAO believes that the recommendation to HHS is still valid. Direction and guidance from HHS could help integrate its component agencies’ workforce planning efforts for veterinarians into a department-wide assessment. [Source: GAO, May 26, 2015]
Call for Student Abstracts: AASV 2016 Annual Meeting
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation during the Student Seminar at the AASV annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, February 28, 2016. Interested students are invited to submit a one-page abstract of a research paper, clinical case study, or literature review for consideration. The submitting student must be a current (2015-16) student member of the AASV at the time of submission, and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to February 28, 2016. Submissions are limited to one (1) abstract per student.
Call for Research Abstracts: AASV 2016 Annual Meeting
Plans are underway for the 47th annual meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 27 â March 1, 2016. As part of the meeting, there will be a session highlighting research projects related to swine health and production. Abstracts are now being accepted for potential presentation during the Research Topics session.