United States Animal Health AssociationThe United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) and American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) have plans well underway for the their 2013 joint Annual Meeting, scheduled for October 17-23, 2013 in San Diego, Calif. This year's joint plenary session on Monday, October 21 will feature, "Vaccines: 100 years of Virus Serum Toxin Act and Beyond," providing a historical look at VSTA over the years including key disease impacts and economics, as well as address current vaccine technology and what the future may hold.

"The 2013 USAHA/AAVLD Plenary Session should provide a very comprehensive look at a very important tool for animal health – vaccines," says Dr. Steve Crawford, USAHA Program Chair and New Hampshire State Veterinarian. "Our goal is to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Virus Serum Toxin Act, take a look at lessons learned over that time and how that will shape the future."

Dr. Crawford co-chairs the program with Dr. Catherine Barr, AAVLD Program Chair and Quality Assurance and Safety Manager with the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL). The two collaborated with colleagues, both in the U.S. and internationally in development of the program. They have tapped Dr. Ron DeHaven, AVMA Executive Vice President to moderate the session, which includes the following presentations:

Hog cholera: the need for VSTA
- Dr. Rick Hill, USDA-APHIS-VS
- Key concepts: history lesson, challenges, implementation.

The economics of vaccination: why do we vaccinate?
-Speaker TBD, International Federation of Animal Health (pending confirmation)
- Key concepts: disease control, eradication, vaccine development considerations, vaccine deployment and administration considerations, as an alternative to depopulation.

Current technologies in vaccines
- Bryan Charleston, Pirbright or Dave Stuart, Oxford
- Key concepts: use FMD vaccine development as example; DIVA technology; speeding up the process; future technologies; public-private collaborations; the use of genome sequencing.

Autogenous vaccines: isn't this why VSTA was established?
-Dr. John A. Smith, Fieldale Farms
- Key concepts: risk/benefit, approval process, development needs, quality control, organism isolation.

Gap analysis for high consequence diseases
- Dr. Luis Rodriguez, USDA-ARS
- Key concepts: all with a focus on vaccines ~ African Swine Fever analysis conducted by ARS; current state, new spread, global implications, technology needs and advances.

Future of vaccines: beyond existing regulatory diseases
- Dr. Cyril Gay, USDA ARS
- Key concepts: potential orbivirus gap analysis underway at ARS; possible involvement of regulatory medicine in the future of disease control beyond our current roles; what is the next frontier and/or how do we identify it?

In addition to the plenary session, USAHA hosts 30 committee sessions on a broad range of animal health topics. The meeting also includes several opportunities to hear the latest in disease research through the AAVLD Scientific Sessions and poster displays. Learn more about the entire list of events at www.usaha.org. Registration is now available for interested attendees – take advantage of early-bird registration and membership discounts.
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7.23.2013