As the 2010 International Pig Veterinary Society congress wound to a close, Ernest Sanford, chair of the organizing committee, reflected on the successful congress. He reported that 2,608 veterinarians attended the meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The U.S. and Canada garnered the most attendees (305 and 270 respectively).
The participants were treated to 262 oral presentations selected from a record 1,186 submitted abstracts reviewed by over 100 international scientific reviewers. In addition, 873 presentations were available for viewing as "e-Posters". For the first time, the congress utilized a total of 24 electronic monitors to display the poster presentations. The monitors were stationed in the Exhibition Hall and outside the Oral Concurrent Session rooms. This allowed for additional enhancements to the poster presentation including links to slideshows, videos, and pop-ups for references and acknowledgements. It will be interesting to hear comments from the delegates regarding their thoughts on this method of presentation.
The Congress kicked off with Dr. Hank Harris presenting an informative and impassioned review of the life and works of the late Dr. Tom Alexander during the inaugural Tom Alexander Memorial Lecture. This was followed by a thought-provoking and often light-hearted examination of the veterinarian’s role in today’s world of changing attitudes relating to animal welfare by the University of British Columbia’s Dr. David Fraser. Dr Fraser’s presentation opened with a poetic rendition of life as a mother sow and he was even able to lead the hundreds of attendees in a stirring sing-along of vocalizing pig noises.
The concurrent sessions covered a broad range of topical issues including influenza, PRRS, MRSA, PCVAD, welfare and antimicrobial resistance. The six Industry Partners (Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Intervet Schering-Plough, Merial, Novartis and Pfizer) also offered satellite symposia covering a range of targeted issues.
As the congress wrapped up, the delegates were presented with bid presentations to hold the 2014 IPVS Congress. Bids were submitted from Mexico (Cancun), Ireland (Dublin) and Spain (Madrid). The delegates ultimately selected Cancun, Mexico as the winning venue to follow in the footsteps of the 22nd IPVS Congress to be held in JeJu, Korea June 10 – 13, 2012.