Hendra Virus Found In Australian DogJuly 27, 2011 The Australian Animal Health Laboratory reported the first positive test in a dog for Hendra virus from natural exposure. The dog had no reported illness but likely contracted the infection from one of three horses on the same property that died from Hendra between June and July. Several Queensland and New South Wales properties are under quarantine due to the equine Hendra virus infection. Hendra is in the Paramyxoviridae family, which was first isolated in 1994 during an outbreak of respiratory and neurologic disease in horses and humans in Hendra, Australia. Human and equine infections are spillover events from the natural hosts for the virus, flying foxes. All dogs are tested when exposure to infected horses is suspected. National policy is that Hendra-infected domestic animals are euthanized because of public health risk. The route of infection between bats and horses is believed to be via bat bodily fluids, including saliva, urine and birthing fluids contaminating horse feed or water. The virus rarely spreads between horses. There is no evidence of the virus being transmitted directly from flying foxes, also known as fruit bats, to humans. Quarantine and disinfection is the only preventive measures, as no …
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U.C. Davis’ Stephen Barthold Receives AAVMC Excellence In Research AwardJuly 26, 2011 Stephen W. Barthold, DVM, Ph.D., of the University of California Davis school of veterinary medicine will receive the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC) 2011 Merial-AAVMC Excellence in Research Award, it was recently announced. Dr. Barthold will receive the award on Aug. 6 at the Merial-NIH National Veterinary Scholars Symposium in Florida. The AAVMC board of directors established the award in 2010 to recognize outstanding research and scholarly achievements in the field of veterinary medicine. It recognizes an individual who has demonstrated excellence in original research, leadership in the scientific community and mentoring of trainees and colleagues in any discipline of veterinary medicine. “It's very fitting that Dr. Barthold has been selected to receive this inaugural Merial-AAVMC Excellence in Research Award,” said Dr. Marguerite Pappaioanou, the AAVMC's executive director. “His scholarly achievements in veterinary and comparative medicine are extraordinary and he is highly respected as a visionary leader, inspiring mentor, and role model whose work has done much to advance biomedical research and demonstrate the important contributions veterinarian scientists make to advancing human and animal health.” Dr. Barthold researches the interaction between infectious disease agents and their hosts. While on the faculty of Yale …
Fitzpatrick Launched Learning Platform For Veterinary ProfessionalsJuly 26, 2011 The Fitzpatrick Learning Academy, an online learning facility, has created new learning, training and continued professional development (CPD) opportunities for veterinarians and staff. During the British Veterinary Nursing Association’s (BVNA) National Veterinary Nursing week, the academy announced CPD options that help nurses develop social networks and aquire skills to deliver superior patient care. “We know that within the veterinary nursing profession one of the issues is that nurses feel they don’t get the credit they deserve.” Fitzpatrick said. “We wanted to help change that and to empower veterinary nurses by creating a dedicated worldwide veterinary nursing community where nurses can come together, share in the pursuit of knowledge, support each other through the development of social networks and access the most innovative and exciting CPD available.” The program is built around a series of eLearning modules, which qualifies students for three hours of CPD. Topics for the first year in include anaesthetic emergencies, radiography, wound management, physiotherapy, nosicomial infections and pain management. Each module is followed by a Vetinar, a one-hour webinar that consolidates learning outcomes and provides learners with the opportunity to interact. Nurses can share knowledge and experiences, post and answer questions and …
Abaxis Animal Health Names New Clinical Services ManagerJuly 25, 2011Abaxis Inc. Animal Health has named Keith DeJong, DVM, Dipl. ACVP as manager of clinical services. Dr. DeJong joined Abaxis in September of 2009 as a professional services representative after completing his residency in clinical pathology at the University of California – Davis school of veterinary medicine. He then became a diplomat in the college of veterinary pathology in December of 2010. Prior to his residency DeJong worked in a private practice in the New York City area. DeJong will be a resource for customers needing assistance with patient results and interpretation, while managignthe Abaxis consulting group of specialists for Abaxis Veterinary Reference Laboratories, as well as developing continuing educational materials for customers, Abaxis states. <Home>
Schurig Assumes AAVMC PresidencyJuly 25, 2011 Gerhardt Schurig, DVM, MS, PhD, dean of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM ), took his position as the new president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC) at the 2011 AAVMC summer meeting. Dr. Schurig is a professor and veterinary immunologist in VMRCVM’s department of biomedical sciences and pathobiology. He spent two years working in the department of veterinary science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison then joined the faculty of Virginia Tech. Schurig previously served as chair of the department of veterinary biosciences, associate dean for research and graduate studies, director of Virginia Tech’s Institute for Biomedical and Public Health Sciences and as a senior researcher and former director of the Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases. Read a Q&A with Dr. Schurig in VeterinaryPracticeNews.com. “Society holds practitioners of veterinary medicine in high esteem and those of us in academic veterinary medicine face the challenge of balancing the need for efficient and forward looking change with the need to maintain the best practices that make it such a great profession,” Schurig said. “Veterinary medical education instills a uniquely valuable, comparative approach to medicine and we need to …
Veterinary Referral Center Of ColoradoJuly 22, 2011 Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado has retained Fetching Communications as its agency of record, according to the Tampa, Fla.-based PR firm. Fetching is redesigning the center’s website, as well as managing its social media and media relations outreach and developing newsletters and marketing material. Fetching also recently signed dog chew company PetMatrix and dog toy company PhysiPet.
More Frontline Plus Generics To Exit Market Due To Patent IssuesJuly 21, 2011 In a move that will apparently remove most Frontline Plus generics (fipronil-methoprene combinations) from the market, Sergeant’s Pet Care Products Inc. of Omaha, Neb., plans to voluntarily remove its various products, citing patent infringement. Sergeant’s is initiating a return and exchange of all fipronil-methoprene products sold in a broad range of channels, including those sold as FiproGuard Plus (pet specialty retail), Pronyl OTC Plus (mass market retail), EctoAdvance (veterinary channel via Meridian Animal Health), Spectra Sure (direct to consumer via Durvet) and Prefurred (professional pest control market) because they infringe Merial's U.S. patent 6,096,329. Sergeant’s has not yet disclosed specifics of the return and exchange program or its future plans for marketing flea and tick control products combined insecticides with insect growth regulators (IGR). Fipronil-based generics not containing methoprene will remain on the market. The inclusion of the IGR is designed to help prevent reinfestation of the pet by killing pests at the egg and larva stage, not just the adult fleas and ticks that Fipronil kills. The action follows a continuing legal battle between Merial and Cipla and Velcera regarding patent claims surrounding their fipronil and methoprene flea-and-tick control products. In June, a U.S. …
AVMA Acquires NCVEI AssetsJuly 21, 2011 The American Veterinary Medical Association announced that the non-profit National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) will become part of AVMA by Sept. 30. The AVMA executive board OK’d purchasing NCVEI’s assets last month for $50,000, the annual contribution it had designated for the association. AVMA says NCVEI’s funding difficulties led to the purchase decision. The NCVEI website, database and branding will be controlled by AVMA. In 2000, AVMA, the American Animal Hospital Association and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges formed NCVEI to improve the economic future of the veterinary profession. In 2011, NCVEI received $50,000 in funding from AVMA and $5,000 from AAVMC. But AAHA cut ties with NCVEI at the end of 2010, saying NCVEI’s business model and administrative costs were a concern. AAVMC decided to fund the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium instead of NCVEI for 2012. A strategic plan is in development for NCVEI with announcement plans later this year. <Home>
AAVMC Board Of Directors Approves NAVMEC ReportJuly 21, 2011The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges board of directors approved the North American Veterinary Medical Education Consortium (NAVMEC) report on the future of veterinary medical education. The nine-member NAVMEC board created The Roadmap for Veterinary Medical Education in the 21st Century report, which details a need for an alliance between veterinary medical education, accreditation and testing/licensure groups to facilitate U.S. veterinary graduates with tools to meet pet owners’ needs. “We recognize that there are many ways to educate students to become veterinarians and that each college is unique and serves a unique constituency,” said Dr. Willie M. Reed, immediate past-president of the AAVMC board of directors and dean of the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine. “But this effort will go a long way toward ensuring that academic veterinary medicine continues to evolve and adapt in order to remain relevant. With NAVMEC, academic veterinary medicine continues to be one step ahead of change.” NAVMEC Authors’ Industry Goals: • Create proficient veterinarians who use an agreed-upon set of core competencies • Competence-driven admissions, curricula, accreditation and testing/licensure • Share resources to ensure veterinary education is quality and cost effective • Promote an economically viable education system …
Veterinarians And DEFRA Support Measures To Control TB In CattleJuly 21, 2011 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced a controlled cull of badgers as a key component of the bovine tuberculosis (TB) eradication plans for England. The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and its specialist cattle division the British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) support the cull to control TB in cattle and wildlife. “The BVA and BCVA have long argued for a targeted, humane badger cull to be used alongside stricter cattle controls,” said Dr. Harvey Locke, president of the BVA. “We believe that failure to tackle wildlife sources of TB infection has prolonged the presence and enhanced the spread of infection in all affected species populations.” DEFRA announced a plan to license groups of farmers and landowners to carry out controlled culls of badgers during a nine-week time frame. The association will also remove some exemptions to pre-movement testing to reduce TB spread. DEFRA says the department plans to financially invest in the development of cattle and oral badger vaccines. The BVA and BCVA said science supports the case for a badger cull, along with the need for stricter cattle control measures in areas where badgers are a contributor to the persistent presence …
