MSD Animal Health opens submissions for the 2018 High Quality Pork Ph.D. Award, through which one recently graduated doctoral student will present their research at the 2018 MSD Animal Health High Quality Pork Congresses in Asia, Europe and the Americas. [Source: National Hog Farmer, September 26, 2017]
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Call for Research Proposals: Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease
The Awards for Advancing Research in Respiratory Disease, with the financial support from Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), is pleased to open the call for research proposals for 2018. Practicing veterinarians and researchers seeking a Research Award need to submit a proposal by January 15, 2018. Three $35,000 awards will be available.
AASV Past Presidents Compete for New Donors
In the effort to increase the AASV Foundation endowment to $2 million by the 2019 AASV Annual Meeting, foundation chairman Dr John Waddell has issued the AASV Foundation Past Presidents Challenge. Waddell is calling upon each of his fellow AASV past presidents to recruit at least 3 new Leman, Heritage, or Legacy donors. To count towards the goal, the donors can be members who have yet to support the Foundation at any level, or those wanting to increase their support from Leman to Heritage or from Heritage to Legacy.
IPVS 2018/PRRS Symposium Abstract Submission Deadline Extended
The International Pig Veterinary Society (IPVS) 2018 Scientific Committee announces that it has extended the deadline for abstract submission to January 31, 2018. Abstracts are to be submitted online at www.IPVS2018.net. The 25th IPVS Congress, slated for June 11-14, 2018 in Chongqing, China, is also hosting the 2018 International PRRS Symposium. Those presenting a poster at the PRRS Symposium may obtain information about applying for a travel fellowship by contacting Dr. Bob Rowland at brwoland@vet.k-state.edu.
Nominations Open for 3 AASV District Directors
Have you ever considered serving the AASV in a governing role? Nominations for the office of AASV District Director are currently being sought in three AASV districts. Nomination cards have been mailed to all eligible voters in Districts 1 (Northeast US), 4 (Indiana and Michigan), and 6 (Iowa). Potential candidates must be Active (veterinarian) AASV members residing in the district to be represented (Affiliate, Associate, and Student Members are not eligible to hold office or vote). In each district, the two nominees receiving the most nominations will be placed on the ballot, subject to their consent to serve.
Position Announcement: Staff Veterinarian
JBS Foods, the largest protein production company in the world, is seeking a progressive, motivated swine veterinary team member on their journey to be the BEST! This position will be based in Russellville, Arkansas. Candidates must be licensed and accredited to perform regulatory duties. Limited overnight travel time is expected and up to 4 days per week on swine farms is expected. Duties will include routine health monitoring, diagnostic investigations, executing disease elimination programs, production consultation, vaccine/medication program development, and regulatory compliance. Experience is preferred but new graduates are encouraged to apply. This position will provide a candidate access to and support from other veterinary team members and will report to a lead veterinarian. Extensive access to production team members will provide basic husbandry support as needed. Apply at: https://app.jobvite.com/CompanyJobs/Job.aspx?j=opDu6fwm.
Free 1-Month Trial: SMEC Digital Library
The Swine Medicine Education Center (SMEC) at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine announces free access to The SMEC Digital Library for one month. This library provides access to a variety of materials, such as video tutorials and guidelines to support swine medicine training of veterinary students, practicing veterinarians, clients, and producers. The library is organized into collections from biosecurity training to surgical techniques, each of which is composed of several related topics. This resource is normally provided for an annual subscription fee, but SMEC is offering FREE access for one month if redeemed by January 1st, 2018.
Applications for AASVF-Merck Scholarships Due Dec 31
The AASV Foundation is pleased to announce that Merck Animal Health has doubled its support for the AASVF-Merck Veterinary Student Scholarship Program, enabling the foundation to award ten $5000 scholarships to sophomore and junior veterinary students in 2018. Now in its third year, the program seeks to identify future swine veterinarians and assist with their educational expenses. Applications are due December 31, 2017 for scholarships that will be announced at the 2018 AASV Annual Meeting.
SHIC Delivers to US Pork Producers During 2017
With more deliverables for the US swine industry than there were gifts beneath the tree, the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC) focused on urgent return-on-investment projects to monitor, predict, prepare, and respond to emerging diseases in 2017. Developed around SHIC’s key priorities, several new projects included in the organization’s 2017 Plan of Work were completed for the benefit of the health of the US swine herd including a communications action plan, near real-time global and domestic disease monitoring systems, development of effective, efficient surveillance systems, Rapid Response Program, Corps, and Training, and much more.
Longitudinal Surveillance of Porcine Rotavirus B Strains from the United States and Canada and In Silico Identification of Antigenically Important Sites
Rotavirus B (RVB) is an important swine pathogen, but control and prevention strategies are limited without an available vaccine. To develop a subunit RVB vaccine with maximal effect, we characterized the amino acid sequence variability and predicted antigenicity of RVB viral protein 7 (VP7), a major neutralizing antibody target, from clinically infected pigs in the United States and Canada. We identified genotype-specific antigenic sites that may be antibody neutralization targets. While some antigenic sites had high amino acid functional group diversity, nine antigenic sites were completely conserved. Analysis of nucleotide substitution rates at amino acid sites (dN/dS) suggested that negative selection appeared to be playing a larger role in the evolution of the identified antigenic sites when compared to positive selection, and was identified in six of the nine conserved antigenic sites. These results identified important characteristics of RVB VP7 variability and evolution and suggest antigenic residues on RVB VP7 that are negatively selected and highly conserved may be good candidate regions to include in a subunit vaccine design due to their tendency to remain stable. Frances K. Shepherd, Fangzhou Chen, Marie R. Culhane, Michael P. Murtaugh and Douglas G. Marthaler; Longitudinal Surveillance of Porcine Rotavirus B Strains from the United States and Canada and In Silico Identification of Antigenically Important Sites; Pathogens 2017, 6(4), 64; doi: 10.3390/pathogens6040064