iCOMOS: One Medicine One Science

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The 2nd International Conference on One Medicine One Science will be held from April 24th to April 27th at the Commons Hotel in Minneapolis.

iCOMOS is a global forum to:

  • communicate the importance of science in solving pressing health issues at the interface of humans, animals and the environment;
  • facilitate interdisciplinary, international collaborations embracing health, science and economics;
  • inform public policy development that is necessary for preserving human and animal health.

Human and animal health care scientists and professionals, economists, trainees, environmental scientists, ethicists, public health and chronic disease specialists, and policy experts in health, agriculture, food, and environmental affairs are invited to come and exchange on this essential topic that is One Health.

Click here to see the full program.

 

Dr. Luiza Roos receives COGS grant award

 

Luiza Roos

Dr. Luiza Roos is a UMN graduate student focusing on swine mycoplasmas under the direction of Dr. Maria Pieters.

Dr. Luiza Roos received the Counsel of Graduate Students (COGS) grant award from the University of Minnesota.
This very competitive grant is offered to graduate students to help them with expenditures while they are traveling to present their research. Dr. Roos will be using the funds to attend the 2016 IPVS where she will be giving a talk on Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae gilt acclimatization.

Please join us in congratulating Luiza for her award!

Monitoring the spread of enteric coronavirus

Drs. Perez, Alba, Goede, and Morrison published a new scientific paper in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science concerning the spread of the enteric coronaviruses in the United states.

Perez Alba Morrison corona spread 2016

Abstract: The reporting and monitoring of swine enteric coronavirus diseases (SECD), including porcine epidemic diarrhea virus and porcine delta coronavirus, in the United States have been challenging because of the initial absence of a regulatory framework and the emerging nature of these diseases. The National Animal Health Laboratory Network, the Emergency Management and Response System, and the Swine Health Monitoring Project were used to monitor the disease situation between May 2013 and March 2015. Important differences existed between and among them in terms of nature and extent of reporting. Here, we assess the implementation of these systems from different perspectives, including a description and comparison of collected data, disease metrics, usefulness, simplicity, flexibility, acceptability, representativeness, timeliness, and stability. This assessment demonstrates the limitations that the absence of premises identification imposes on certain animal health surveillance and response databases, and the importance of federally regulated frameworks in collecting accurate information in a timely manner. This study also demonstrates the value that the voluntary and producer-organized systems may have in monitoring emerging diseases. The results from all three data sources help to establish the baseline information on SECD epidemiological dynamics after almost 3 years of disease occurrence in the country.

Link to the full article

Persistence of Influenza A

Dr. Torremorell, director of the Swine Disease Eradication Center published a new study on the persistence of Influenza A virus in air and on surfaces of swine production facilities.

torremorell publi

Abstract: Indirect transmission of influenza A virus (IAV) in swine is poorly understood and information is lacking on levels of environmental exposure encountered by swine and people during outbreaks of IAV in swine barns. We characterized viral load, viability and persistence of IAV in air and on surfaces during outbreaks in swine barns. IAV was detected in pigs, air and surfaces from five confirmed outbreaks with 48% (47/98) of oral fluid, 38% (32/84) of pen railing and 43% (35/82) of indoor air samples testing positive by IAV RT-PCR. IAV was isolated from air and oral fluids yielding a mixture of subtypes (H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2). Detection of IAV RNA from air was sustained during the outbreaks with maximum levels estimated between 7 and 11 days from reported onset. Our results indicate that during outbreaks of IAV in swine, aerosols and surfaces in barns contain significant levels of IAV potentially representing an exposure hazard to both swine and people.

Link to Full Article

UMN well represented at 2016 AASV

UMN students did a fantastic job at the 2016 American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) meeting. Four students presented their projects as a poster presentation and two gave a presentation, reaching 2nd and 3rd position of the student competition. Alyssa Anderson was one of the five students awarded with the Merck-AASV Foundation scholarship.

On the faculty side, Dr. Mike Murtaugh’s research project concerning the development of  a challenge-free model to predict vaccine efficacy, was one of the four recognized by and received support from the AASV Foundation.

Congratulations to all!

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