As part of an initiative to support antibiotic stewardship in the US swine industry, we invite AASV members to participate in a survey on antibiotic use practices in the US swine industry. With support and encouragement from the National Pork Board and American Association of Swine Veterinarians, we are working on a 5-year project funded by the Food and Drug Administration to describe antibiotic use practices in the US swine industry. The first phase of the project (2016 – 2017 data) focused on grow-finish pigs, and data representing approximately 20 million pigs per year across 9 large systems have been compiled, with broader participation expected going forward. In addition to the antibiotic use data, by surveying swine veterinarians in the participating systems we obtained complementary data by drug on major indications for use, relative use by age-group, and most common protocols (dose/duration) by route.
Monthly Archives: August 2019
Still Time to Register for the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, September 14–17
Dates: September 14-17, 2019 Registration: Open Now!
Position Announcement: Genetic Herd Veterinarian
Under general supervision, the Genetic Herd Veterinarian will serve as a liaison to the Technical Operations Operating division, specifically in Southern Illinois, Central/Southern Indiana, and assist the General Manager with implementation of both Health Assurance and production operations. The Herd Veterinarian will have the responsibility to maintain active collaboration with The Maschhoff’s internal veterinary team and a team of consulting veterinarians to provide production management personnel with fiscally and socially responsible strategies for managing the health of their animals. Provide leadership in training and developing production personnel, innovation to production practices, and stewardship of the company’s animals and other resources.
Position Announcement: Veterinarian
Oak Hill Genetics raises animals for medical research, for the advancement in both human and animal medicine. We began selling domestic Yorkshire/Landrace pigs in 1989, and in 1995 started selling mongrel hounds. Oak Hill Genetics is a faith-based company and is guided by Christian principles. We are seeking a veterinarian to fill a management position in the canine production colony and to oversee and perform studies.
Call for Abstracts: AASV Student Seminar
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation at the AASV Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, March 8, 2020. 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 (2019-20) student member of the AASV at the time of submission, and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to March 8, 2020. Submissions are limited to one (1) abstract per student.
Participate in USDA’s Full Functional Exercise for an African Swine Fever for Agriculture Response in September
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) National Training and Exercise Program (NTEP) is sponsoring a series of four exercises for the top 14 swine producing states to further their capacity to effectively respond to and mitigate an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF). Three exercises in this series have already been completed: ASF Response Policy Workshop, November 2018; ASF Plan Review and Revision Workshop, February 2019; and an ASF Response Tabletop Exercise (TTX), April 2019. These three exercises have set the stage for the fourth exercise activity, a series of functional exercises and drills to be conducted between September 23 and 26, 2019. We encourage AASV members to be involved in this full functional exercise. To participate and to learn more about your state’s participation in preparation for and during the exercise, contact your State Animal Health Official or your state pork produces association.
Calcium-to-Phosphorus Ratio Established for 11-to-22-kg Pigs
The amount of calcium in pig diets must be calculated precisely. Too much can decrease phosphorus digestibility and feed intake, leading to lower weight gain in pigs. [Source: Farm Journal’s Pork, 19 August 2019, by Laruen Quinn, University of Illinois]
AASV Member Publishes Book
Long time AASV member Dr. Gregg BeVier has just published a new paperback, Prescriptive Thoughts for an Enriched Life.
Lack of Evidence for Long Term Carriers of African Swine Fever Virus – A Systematic Review
African swine fever (ASF) was first described in 1921 as a highly fatal and contagious disease which caused severe outbreaks among settlers’ pigs in British East Africa. Since then the disease has expanded its geographical distribution and is currently present in large parts of Africa, Europe and Asia and considered a global threat. Although ASF is typically associated with very high case fatality rates, a certain proportion of infected animals will recover from the infection and survive. Early on it was speculated that such survivors may act as carriers of the virus, and the importance of such carries for disease persistence and spread has since then almost become an established truth. However, the scientific basis for such a role of carriers may be questioned. With this in mind, the objective of this study was to review the available literature in a systematic way and to evaluate the available scientific evidence. The selection of publications for the review was based on a database search, followed by a stepwise screening process in order to exclude duplicates and non-relevant publications based on pre-defined exclusion criteria. By this process the number of publications finally included was reduced from the 3664 hits identified in the initial database search to 38 publications, from which data was then extracted and analysed. Based on this it was clear that a definition of an ASF virus carrier is lacking, and that in general any survivor or seropositive animal has been referred to as carrier. It was also clear that evidence of any significant role of such a carrier is absent. Two types of “survivors” could be defined: 1) pigs that do not die but develop a persistent infection, characterised by periodic viraemia and often but not always accompanied by some signs of subacute to chronic disease, and 2) pigs which clear the infection independently of virulence of the virus, and which are not persistently infected and will not present with prolonged virus excretion. There is no evidence that suggests that any of these categories of survivors can be considered as “healthy” carriers, i.e. pigs that show no sign of disease but can transmit the virus to in-contact pigs. However, localized virus persistence in lymphoid tissues may occur to some extent in any of the categories of survivors, which in theory may cause infection after oral uptake. To what extent this is relevant in reality, however, can be questioned given the virus dose generally needed for oral infection. Ståhl K, Sternberg-Lewerin S, Blome S, Viltrop A, Penrith ML, Chenais E. Lack of evidence for long term carriers of African swine fever virus – a systematic review. Virus Res. 2019 Aug. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2019.197725
Comments Sought on AVMA Euthanasia Guidelines
The AVMA is in the process of updating its AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasis of Animals. This guidance represents best practices in humanely ending animals’ lives when necessary.