AASV News (Sep 2015)

Do you know an AASV member whose dedication to the association and the swine industry is worthy of recognition? The AASV Awards Committee requests nominations for the following five awards to be presented at the upcoming AASV annual meeting in New Orleans.

Howard Dunne Memorial Award – Given annually to an AASV member who has made a significant contribution and rendered outstanding service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Meritorious Service Award – Given annually to an individual who has consistently given time and effort to the association in the area of service to the AASV members, AASV officers, and the AASV staff.

Swine Practitioner of the Year – Given annually to the swine practitioner (AASV member) who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her clients.

Technical Services/Allied Industry Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to the technical services or allied industry veterinarian who has demonstrated an unusual degree of proficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of veterinary service to his or her company and its clients, as well as given tirelessly in service to the AASV and the swine industry.

Young Swine Veterinarian of the Year – Given annually to a swine veterinarian who is an AASV member, 5 years or less post-graduation, who has demonstrated the ideals of exemplary service and proficiency early in his or her career.

Nominations are due December 15. The nomination letter should specify the award and cite the qualifications of the candidate for the award. Submit to AASV, 830 26th Street, Perry, IA 50220-2328: Fax: 515-465-3832, E-mail: aasv@aasv.org.

Call for abstracts – AASV 2016 Student Seminar

Veterinary Student Scholarships

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians announces an opportunity for veterinary students to make a scientific presentation during the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday, February 28, 2016. 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 (2015-2016) student member of the AASV at the time of submission, and must not have graduated from veterinary school prior to February 28, 2016. Submissions are limited to one (1) abstract per student.

Abstracts and supplementary materials must be received by Dr Alex Ramirez (alex@aasv.org) by 11:59 pm Central Daylight Time on Monday, September 21, 2015 (firm deadline). All material must be submitted electronically. Late abstracts will not be considered. Students should receive an e-mail confirming the receipt of their submission. If they do not receive this confirmation e-mail, they must contact Dr Alex Ramirez (alex@aasv.org) by Wednesday September 23, 2015, with supporting evidence that the submission was made in time, otherwise the submission will not be considered for judging. The abstracts will be reviewed by an unbiased professional panel consisting of a private practitioner, an academician, and an industry veterinarian. Fifteen abstracts will be selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar at the AASV Annual Meeting. Students will be notified by October 15, 2015, and those selected to participate will be expected to provide the complete paper or abstract, reformatted for publication, by November 16, 2015.

As sponsor of the Student Seminar, Zoetis provides a total of $20,000 in support to fund travel stipends and the top student presenter scholarship. The student presenter of each paper selected for oral presentation receives a $750 stipend to help defray the costs of attending the AASV meeting.

Each veterinary student whose paper is selected for oral presentation competes for one of several veterinary student scholarships awarded through the AASV Foundation. The oral presentations will be judged to determine the amount of the scholarship awarded. Zoetis funds the $5000 scholarship for the student whose paper, oral presentation, and supporting information are judged best overall. Elanco Animal Health provides $20,000 in additional funding, enabling the AASV Foundation to award $2500 each for 2nd through 5th place, $1500 each for 6th through 10th place, and $500 each for 11th through 15th place.

Abstracts that are not selected for oral presentation in the Student Seminar will be considered for participation in a poster session at the annual meeting. Zoetis and the AASV fund a stipend of $250 for each student who is selected and participates in the poster presentation. In addition, the presenters of the top 15 poster abstracts compete for awards ranging from $200 to $500 in the Veterinary Student Poster Competition sponsored by Newport Laboratories.

Complete information for preparing and submitting abstracts is available on the AASV Web site at www.aasv.org/annmtg/2016/studentseminar.htm. Please note: the rules for submission should be followed carefully. For more information, contact the AASV office (Tel: 515-465-5255; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org).

Call for submissions – Industrial Partners

The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) invites submissions for the Industrial Partners portion of the 47th AASV Annual Meeting, to be held February 27-March 1, 2016, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This is an opportunity for commercial companies to make brief presentations of a technical, educational nature to members of the AASV.

As in the past, the oral sessions will consist of a series of 15-minute presentations scheduled from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, February 28. A poster session will take place on the same day. Poster authors will be required to be stationed with their poster from 12:00 noon until 1:00 pm, and the posters will remain on display throughout the afternoon and the following day for viewing by meeting attendees.

Restricted program space necessitates a limit on the number of presentations per company. Companies that are members of the Journal of Swine Health and Production Industry Support Council (listed on the back cover of each issue of the journal) may submit two topics for oral presentation. Sponsors of the AASV e-Letter may submit an additional topic for oral presentation. All other companies may submit one topic for oral presentation. In addition, every company may submit one topic for poster presentation (poster topics may not duplicate oral presentations). All topics must represent information not previously presented at the AASV Annual Meeting or published in the meeting proceedings.

Topic title, a brief description of the presentation content, and presenter information (name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address) must be received in the AASV office by October 1, 2015. Please identify whether the submission is intended for oral or poster presentation. Send submissions via mail, fax, or e-mail to Commercial Sessions, AASV, 830 26th Street, Perry, IA 50220-2328; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org.

Authors will be notified of their acceptance by October 15, 2015, and must submit the paper for publication in the meeting proceedings by November 16, 2015. All presentations – oral and poster – will be published in the proceedings of the meeting. Papers for poster presentations are limited to one page of text plus one table or figure. Papers for oral presentations may be up to five pages in length (including tables and figures), when formatted according to the guidelines provided to authors upon acceptance of their presentation. Companies failing to submit papers in a timely manner may not be eligible for future participation in these sessions.

FDA issues Veterinary Feed Directive final rule

On June 2, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) final rule, an important piece of the agency’s overall strategy to promote the judicious use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals. This strategy will bring the use of these drugs under veterinary supervision so that they are used only when necessary for assuring animal health. The VFD final rule outlines the process for authorizing use of VFD drugs (animal drugs intended for use in or on animal feed that require the supervision of a licensed veterinarian) and provides veterinarians in all states with a framework for authorizing the use of medically important antimicrobials in feed when needed for specific animal-health purposes. The final rule becomes effective October 1, 2015. For specific details regarding the veterinarian’s role in the VFD process, see the “Advocacy in action” article in this issue of the Journal of Swine Heath and Production.