Drugs in Livestock Feed Put Under Vet SupervisionJune 2, 2015The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, looking to reduce the threat of antibiotic resistance in people and animals, today released the final rule governing the judicious use of antimicrobials in livestock feed and drinking water. The Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) final rule empowers veterinarians to authorize antimicrobials when necessary for medical purposes only. Some drugs linked to antibiotic resistance have been used to improve the efficiency of livestock feed or fatten animals. “The actions the FDA has taken to date represent important steps toward a fundamental change in how antimicrobials can be legally used in food-producing animals,” said Michael R. Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods. “The VFD final rule takes another important step by facilitating veterinary oversight in a way that allows for the flexibility needed to accommodate the diversity of circumstances that veterinarians encounter while ensuring such oversight is conducted in accordance with nationally consistent principles.” The American Veterinary Medical Association stated that it worked closely with the FDA to ensure the rule is “practical and in the best interests of animal health, public health and the veterinary profession.” “Particularly critical” to the final rule, according to AVMA, is the requirement for a veterinarian-client-patient relationship when …
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Condor Named Miracle Receives Veterinary Care at Oakland ZooJune 2, 2015A California condor named Miracle has arrived at Oakland Zoo for veterinary care. The female is the first condor to be treated for lead poisoning in 2015 at Oakland Zoo. Upon capture by biologists, Miracle’s lead levels were too high to register on the in the field test kit, thus she was immediately brought to the zoo. Oakland Zoo’s Condor Care Team examined and X-rayed her, then began chelation treatment to remove the lead from her body. Miracle, a California condor, has arrived at the Oakland Zoo in California, to be treated for lead poisoning. When she was captured by biologists for her semi-annual checkup in Pinnacles National Park, she tested positive for lead poisoning … Her lead levels so high, they couldn’t even register on the field test kit. She was immediately sent in for transport, and the Oakland Zoo’s Condor Care Team examined and X-rayed her, then began chelation treatment to remove the lead from her body. “When a bird’s blood levels are high, it’s critical for us to take them in for veterinary care,” said Rachel Wolstenholme, the manager of the Pinnacles Condor Program. So how is Miracle doing? She’s living up to her namesake, it seems. …
OSU Names Stratton Staff Award RecipientJune 2, 2015Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences has named Dennis Clary as its 2015 Stratton Staff Award recipient. Clary is a member of the facilities maintenance team. The award was established upon the retirement of Dr. Louie Stratton in 1989. Stratton, the former director of OSU’s Veterinary Medical Hospital, wanted the award to honor outstanding staff members for their dedicated service and many key contributions. Nominations are accepted from any employee of the center and selected by an ad hoc committee appointed by the dean. Clary, who has been with the center for five years, is known for his vast knowledge of the center’s facilities and his willingness to tackle any project. He regularly participates in continuing education courses to expand his knowledge base, according to the university. Clary is also quick to volunteer to come in early, stay late and work on weekends if needed to lessen the impact and downtime on the center’s critical building systems, the university further noted. OSU’s Center for Veterinary Health Services also took the time to recognize other faculty and staff who have devoted many years of service to the center. Longevity awards were given to the following employees: Dr. Sahlu Ayalew, …
CSU Vets Refine Art of Artificial TissueJune 1, 2015The skin they sell is fake, but the entrepreneurial achievements of Colorado State University equine surgeons Dean Hendrickson and Fausto Bellezzo are 100 percent real. Drs. Hendrickson and Bellezzo are the brains behind SurgiReal Products Inc., a manufacturer of suture pads used by students at more than 140 veterinary, medical and nursing schools nationwide. Gone are the days of practicing and fine-tuning surgical techniques on carpet scraps, orange peels, bananas and pigs’ feet. “The next generation of medical students will say, ‘We saw something where people used carpet pads—really?’ said Hendrickson, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS. “I had a donor say, ‘You’re turning the world upside down with this,’ and I said, ‘No, I’m just trying to train surgeons.’” SurgiReal’s extensive product line ranges from a $19.99 translucent suture pad to a $99.99 five-layer tissue pad that oozes fake blood. Also available are a $96.25 small intestine model and the $2,195 Equine Simulator 1.0, an artificial horse’s head designed for practicing everything from eye nerve blocks to jugular catheter insertions. All that and more from a Fort Collins, Colo., company that started sales in 2013 and is expecting $400,000 in revenue this year. Hendrickson, the former dean of CSU’s …
Purdue’s Trustees Give Green Light on $60 Million Ag, Life Sciences FacilityMay 30, 2015Purdue University’s Board of Trustees recently approved a new $60 million Agricultural and Life Sciences Facility. The 123,000 gross-square-foot facility complex will consolidate Department of Animal Sciences students, faculty and staff into a unified complex to better coordinate teaching, research and engagement activities, according to the university. It will also provide needed upgrades to teaching, research and meat lab facilities. “This new location will provide the facilities needed to maintain our continued recognition as a premier program and attract top students and faculty, as well as to support the animal industries in our state and around the world at the highest levels,” said Jay Akridge, Ph.D., Purdue’s Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. “In addition, the location near the Life and Health Sciences Park and adjacent to Discovery Park will allow us to enhance collaboration among our college and the colleges of Engineering, Health and Human Sciences and Veterinary Medicine.” Construction is slated to being in February 2016. Occupancy in the facility is aimed for July 2017. Financing will come from $35 million in student fee bond proceeds approved by the General Assembly, $15 million in gift funds and $10 million from the capital reserve for buildings. Purdue must provide …
FTC Open to Wider Veterinary Drug MarketMay 29, 2015A dog owner walks out of a veterinary clinic with a prescription in hand, drives to her neighborhood pharmacy to get her sick terrier’s order filled and leaves with a few generic and brand-name animal drugs. Such a scenario is uncommon today, but the Federal Trade Commission, in a report issued this week, found that the pet medications market could be more competitive—and better for consumers—if portable prescriptions were the norm, human pharmacies had greater access to veterinary drugs and more generics were available. The FTC staff report, titled “Competition in the Pet Medications Market,” was the culmination of a three-year review that included industry and public input gathered at a 2012 workshop and from more than 700 written comments. The FTC acknowledged that the U.S. pet pharmaceutical market—forecast to hit $10.2 billion in sales by 2018—is in flux and has changed dramatically from the days when veterinarians dispensed virtually all prescription drugs. According to the latest estimates, practitioners sell 58 percent of prescription and over-the-counter medications, brick-and-mortar pharmacies and retailers rake in 28 percent, and the growing Internet and mail-order segment accounts for 13 percent. The American Veterinary Medical Association conceded that there is no going back. “The report …
K-State Unveils Test for New Dog Flu StrainMay 28, 2015The Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has added a canine influenza test designed to differentiate between the common H3N8 and emerging H3N2 strains. An H3N2 outbreak first reported in Chicago in mid-March has infected more than 1,000 dogs in about a dozen states, killing an estimated 2 to 3 percent of patients. The laboratory’s H3N2 test was developed at Kansas State University but is not the first. Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Center and Idexx Laboratories Inc., for example, can confirm whether submitted swabs carry H3N2. “The test offered by Idexx is a PCR assay,” said Ben Hause, MS, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. “They run a PCR panel that gives yes/no answers whether the sample is positive for influenza A virus and if positive, whether it’s positive for H3 or N2 or N8. This will tell you whether the sample is positive for influenza and what the subtype is. “We also screen samples initially by PCR to tell if the sample is positive for influenza A virus,” Hause said. “If positive, we then subtype the virus by sequencing. This will give us the H and N types, but as opposed …
MSU Names Co-Directors of Veterinary Technology ProgramMay 28, 2015Jolynne Judge, LVT, and Helen Mayer, LVT, have been named co-directors of the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine Veterinary Technology Program. “Judge and Mayer bring decades of first-hand experience and professional knowledge to their co-directorship,” said Julie Funk, associate dean of Academic Programs and Student Affairs for the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Their experience will allow them to further enhance the stellar national reputation of the Veterinary Technology Program as well as continuing to build relationships within the college and across the university.” Judge, who began her career at MSU in 1982 as a clinical technician with the Veterinary Medical Center, has been an instructor in the Veterinary Technology Program since 1995. Mayer has been an instructor in the program since 1992. She also coordinates veterinary technology advising, serves as pre-veterinary academic advisor, and coordinates undergraduate advising for the college. Judge and Mayer succeed Helene Pazak, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVN, who led the Veterinary Technology Program for 15 years. Dr. Pazak returns to the college faculty and will concentrate on teaching and administrative initiatives.
Pets Best Reaches $100 Million in PayoutsMay 27, 2015Pets Best Insurance Services has paid out more than $100 million to policyholders since the company was established in 2005. The milestone, reported today, shows that people who purchase health insurance policies for their pets are likely to choose veterinary care over putting down the animal when medical costs are a barrier, said company founder Jack L. Stephens, DVM. “The reason I started the pet insurance industry was to end economic euthanasia,” said Dr. Stephens, who launched today’s leading company, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), in 1982. “After 33 years, the industry has helped hundreds of thousands of pet owners and saved millions of pets,” he said. Pets Best pegged the economic euthanasia tipping point at $1,704 in 2012. That is, most pet owners faced with a veterinary bill of $1,704 or more would choose to have the animal euthanized. Dogs represent the vast majority of Pets Best’s business—88 percent of paid insurance claims and 82 percent of policies. The most common canine insurance claims were linked to skin allergies, ear infections, arthritis, masses such as lumps and bumps, and cruciate ligament injuries, Pets Best stated. The average paid claim for skin allergies was $91, and the largest was …
Lincoln Memorial Vet College Names New Associate Dean for Academic AffairsMay 26, 2015The Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine (LMU-CVM) has named John Dascanio, VMD, Dipl. ABVP (equine), as the next associate dean for academic affairs. Dr. Dascanio, who joined the university as a professor of theriogenology and director of large animal clinical skills in August 2014, has more than 25 years of educational experience with veterinary colleges. “I am honored to work with a great team of educators at Lincoln Memorial University,” Dascanio said. “We are providing an innovative curriculum within Appalachia that will utilize the best in clinical skills training. It is extremely exciting to help develop the curriculum of the 30th veterinary college in the United States.” LMU-CVM Dean Glen Hoffsis, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, said that Dascanio is an excellent addition to the leadership team. “He is an outstanding administrator with proven experience in curriculum development, student performance and organized veterinary medicine,” Dr. Hoffsis said. “I am confident that his diverse skills and experience will enhance the education of our student body.”
