Under the direction of president-elect and program chair Dr. Jeff Harker, the AASV Program Committee has focused on the theme "2020: A Vision for the Future" to assemble the presentations for the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. The conference will take place March 7-10, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. The scientific program is now online at aasv.org/annmtg/2020/program.php.
Dr. Bret Marsh, Indiana State Veterinarian and head of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, has been tapped to present the Howard Dunne Memorial Lecture during the general session on Monday, March 9. His presentation is titled "Trust the people." Dr. Bill Hollis of Carthage Veterinary Service Ltd. will follow with the Alex Hogg Memorial Lecture, "Choosing a pathway forward in practice." The remainder of the general session will include an examination of the future of swine medicine education by Dr. Locke Karriker and a vision of the future for global markets by Dr. Steve Meyer. The session will close with a motivational presentation entitled "Reset to positive" by Dr. Betsy Charles.
As might be expected, the subject of foreign animal disease prevention and preparedness is slated to receive a generous share of attention during the program, with both a pre-conference seminar and part of Tuesday’s general session devoted to prevention, control, and management of African swine fever and other foreign and transboundary animal diseases. A portion of Tuesday’s general session has also been dedicated to swine welfare topics.
The three concurrent sessions on Monday afternoon will address pharmaceutical issues; biosecurity; and disease prevention, control, and elimination.
Preconference seminars on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning provide attendees with the opportunity to take a more in-depth look at specific areas of interest. Seminars are offered on emerging technologies, diagnostics, conducting outbreak investigations (part 2), sow productivity, influenza, media training, and working effectively with people, in addition to the ever-popular seminars on practice tips and swine medicine for veterinary students. A new seminar this year is titled #ImNewAtThis and is designed to help recent veterinary graduates get off to a good start.
As usual, the Research Topics session will take place on Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon will feature the Student Seminar scholarship competition as well as the Industrial Partners’ presentations. A poster session of 78 posters submitted by veterinary students, researchers, and industry partners begins at noon on Sunday and continues through Monday.
More than 80 companies and organizations, listed at aasv.org/annmtg/2020/tech.php, have already registered to participate in the Technical Tables exhibit at the meeting. The exhibit takes place on Monday and Tuesday, March 9 and 10.
Registration for the conference will open in late December. The AASV room block at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta is already open, and attendees are encouraged to reserve lodging rooms as soon as possible; see aasv.org/annmtg/2020/lodging.php for details. For additional information regarding the conference, see aasv.org/annmtg or contact the AASV office: 515-465-5255 or aasv@aasv.org.