Boehringer Ingelheim announces $80M expansion investmentDecember 5, 2017Boehringer Ingelheim announced it will invest more than $80 million to expand its existing facilities in Athens, Ga., and St. Joseph, Mo., to accommodate increased production of animal vaccines. The company's facility in Athens, Ga., will grow from its current footprint of approximately 350,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet, and will nearly double its filling capacity for companion animal and avian vaccines. Construction is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2017 and will continue through 2019, with commercial production anticipated to begin in the second half of 2019. The facility employs approximately 400; research and development operations also are based there. The company expects to add 50 positions over the next three years to support the expansion. Construction at the company's facility in St. Joseph, Mo., also will begin in the fourth quarter 2017 on a 13,000-square-foot expansion to accommodate increased production of livestock animal vaccines sold in the U.S. and globally. The manufacturing operation is part of a 700,000-square-foot total campus in St. Joseph, which also includes a warehouse, research and development, and other support functions. Twenty additional jobs will be created over the next few years to support the increased …
SPONSORED CONTENTThe Reality of Veterinary Surgery ErgonomicsOne of the greatest challenges of Work-Related Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (WRMSD) is that they can come on slowly. They can be easy to ignore initially. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) issued ergonomic guidelines to help veterinarians catch problems early. + Learn More
Auburn to strengthen vet medicine in rural KentuckyDecember 5, 2017The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine is directing a program to strengthen veterinary services to underserved rural populations in Kentucky through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Veterinary Services Grant Program and in partnership with Kentucky veterinarians. The $237,233 grant allows the college to create a program to "develop, implement, and sustain private veterinary services through education, training, recruitment, placement and retention of veterinarians and students of veterinary medicine," said Dan Givens, DVM, Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs at Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine. It is one of 13 grants by USDA's National Institute of Food & Agriculture. Objectives of the grant are: Connect veterinarians serving in rural geographic areas where additional veterinarians are needed with veterinary students interested in working in those areas; Provide quality educational opportunities for veterinary students in business management and sustainability in rural veterinary practice; Provide quality continuing education at a reduced cost to veterinarians serving in designated rural areas of unmet needs; Provide business management education and practice sustainability consultation to rural veterinary practitioners in underserved areas, and Facilitate and create networking opportunities that assist graduating veterinarians with transitioning into sustainable careers in rural underserved …
Wiley releases second edition on common neoplasias in geriatric dogs, catsDecember 5, 2017Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human-Animal Bond, Second Edition by Alice Villalobos, DVM, with Laurie Kaplan, MSC, newly released by Wiley, provides a complete clinical approach to the most common neoplasias in geriatric dogs and cats.
Study finds animal sterilization possibly safer than hysterectomy in womenDecember 4, 2017A six-year study of 113,906 spay/neuter surgeries performed in a Florida spay/neuter clinic found that the canine mortality rate was lower than that reported for hysterectomy in women. The study, presented at an international specialty conference last month, found a canine mortality rate of 0.9 per 10,000 surgeries (0.009 percent), compared to 1 per 10,000 surgeries in women. Even though cats didn't fare as well, with a mortality rate of 5/10,000 surgeries (0.05 percent), the overall mortality rate of 3.3/10,000 (0.03 percent) closely approached that found in human surgical practice. "This is a stunning validation of the expertise and skill of spay/neuter veterinarians," said lead researcher Julie Levy, DVM, Ph.D., DACVIM, DABVP, of the Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida. The research also echoed similar findings from human literature about the importance of specialized skills and volume of practice in achieving high surgical success rates. The study examined surgery performed at a high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter clinic operated by the Humane Society of Tampa Bay within the parameters of The Association of Shelter Veterinarians' Veterinary Medical Care Guidelines for Spay-Neuter Clinics. It's unsurprising that extreme focus on a specific set of …
KSU researcher protects pigs against PRRS during reproductionDecember 1, 2017 Raymond "Bob" Rowland, Ph.D., professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, has created a way to protect swine offspring from porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus during pregnancy. Rowland has found that mothers without the CD163 protein are resistant to the PRRS virus and give birth to healthy, normal piglets. The work appears in Nature's Scientific Reports. "We have created a protective shell against the PRRS virus during the reproductive phase of production," Rowland said. "The offspring does not become infected during pregnancy and is born a healthy piglet. During this critical phase of production, we have essentially ended a disease." The PRRS virus causes disease in two forms: a respiratory form that weakens young pigs' ability to breathe and a more severe reproductive form that causes mass deaths in pigs during late pregnancy. "The reproductive form not only has a tremendous economic impact, but also a psychological impact on people who work with pigs," said Rowland, who has spent more than 20 years studying the PRRS virus. "When we look at ways to control this disease, it really begins with reproduction. We want to keep this …
AAVMC reports veterinary college applicant pool up 6 percentDecember 1, 2017The number of applicants applying for admission to member institutions of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) continues to rise, according to final data compiled at the end of the annual application cycle. A total of 7,507 individuals applied through the AAVMC's Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) for admission to the class that begins their studies in fall 2018. That compares to 7,077 applicants who applied during the prior year admissions cycle and represents an increase of about 6 percent. The total number of applications submitted was 36,638, which rose about seven percent over last year, when 34,134 applied. Each applicant applied to an average of 4.88 institutions, which also slightly increased. This marks the second straight year that the number of applicants has increased about 6 percent year-over-year. A recently published report by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests opportunities for careers in veterinary medicine will grow 18 percent by 2026 as a result of increased demand for companion animal care and food production and security. "Veterinary medicine offers a wide variety of rewarding career opportunities in many different sectors of the profession, including clinical care, food security, …
Zoetis accepting research grant proposals on controlling parasitic diseaseDecember 1, 2017Zoetis is accepting grant proposals for research into innovative approaches to help protect dogs, cattle, sheep, and poultry from parasitic diseases and to extend the efficacy of therapeutics through new formulations. Through a grant awards program, Zoetis will award a minimum of $25,000 and maximum of $150,000 to support each selected grant proposal. More than one grant may be awarded. "We at Zoetis are interested in advancing novel approaches to protect animals from parasitic diseases, to improve the health and productivity of livestock animals and to help companion animals live longer, healthier lives," said Debra Woods, Ph.D., research director, head of Parasitology Global Therapeutics Research for Zoetis. "Through this grant program, we aim to energize investigation into anti-parasitic therapeutics research and advance science in this area of high need in animal health." The company seeks proposals focused on helping to protect dogs from heartworm disease by taking novel biological or biopharmaceutical approaches to prevention and on developing diagnostic tools to detect the early stages of infection. Projects might also look at understanding early stages of heartworm infection, including the mechanisms of their migration through the tissues to the heart. In cattle and sheep, the company seeks proposals that explore …
Oregon CVM resumes normal operations after EHV-1 caseDecember 1, 2017Three weeks after diagnosing a horse with a form of equine herpes virus (EHV-1) and suspending all elective surgical and medical services for horses and camelids, the Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine has resumed normal operations. EHV-1 is a naturally occurring virus that can cause serious neurologic illness in horses. "There was no transmission of the virus to other horses within or outside of the hospital, so we are lifting quarantine and returning to normal operations effective immediately," said Erica McKenzie, professor of large animal internal medicine. "The college thanks everyone for their patience and assistance during the quarantine period." EHV-1 can cause abortion in pregnant mares, which should be kept away from horses showing signs of the disease and also kept away from horses that have been in contact with exposed animals. Although a vaccine exists for EHV-1, it does not prevent infection and is not known to prevent clinical signs of neurologic disease related to the neurotropic form. "Horse owners should be aware that although EHV-1 is not transmissible to humans, people can spread the virus on their hands and clothing to horses, alpacas or llamas if they are in contact with an infected horse," McKenzie …
What to do about growing stress in the veterinary professionNovember 30, 2017 Stress is an all-pervasive phenomenon in modern day societies and various professions, but the veterinary discipline suffers from the negative effects of stress and its sequelae at a troublingly disproportionate rate. A recent report, written by Richard W. Kim and his colleagues at the DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Center for Animal and Human Health at Lincoln Memorial University, and School of Public Health at Jackson State University, published in the November 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, discusses the issue of negative stress in veterinarians and veterinary students and suggests a novel approach in combating this scourge. Pervasive problem with elusive effective change Negative stress, often called distress, is at the root of many mental health problems and dysfunctional behaviors. Surveys by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other researchers have found that veterinarians suffer two to three times the prevalence of serious mental illness and feelings of despair relative to the general population. According to a 2015 survey published by Nett et al in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, it has been reported that almost a third of veterinarians had experienced depression, with as high as …
Ehave moves to expand health informatics tech into vet medicineNovember 30, 2017Ehave Inc., a healthcare company that delivers digital solutions to the mental health community, will be expanding its business into veterinary medicine. Companion Healthcare Technologies Inc. (CHT) will license Ehave's core health informatics platform for animal health. "The veterinary healthcare market continues to undergo explosive growth marked by a drive for new medicines, diagnostics, and technologies that can elevate the quality and access to care for companion animals," said Prateek Dwivedi, CEO of Ehave. "This expansion into yet another emerging healthcare vertical exemplifies the versatility and utility of our technology and is in line with our efforts to fully leverage the flexibility of our core health informatics platform in areas where there is an opportunity to add immediate value and revenue. As the pace of innovation in animal health continues to accelerate, our platform is ideally designed to support the growth of this exciting industry. Similar to our established applications in mental health and medical cannabis, by licensing our core platform, CHT and its partners in veterinary research and clinical practice will be able to more effectively monitor, utilize, and improve therapeutic outcomes for pets by capturing and analyzing real-time, objective patient data." Under the proposed license agreement, CHT will …
