AASV News
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 titles, 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.

Call for abstracts – Research Topics session

Plans are underway for the 47th annual meeting of the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 27-March 1, 2016. As part of the meeting, there will be a session highlighting research projects related to swine health and production. Abstracts are now being accepted for potential presentation during the Research Topics session.

Those interested in making a 15-minute oral presentation should submit a one-page abstract on applied research related to swine health and production issues (virology, bacteriology, parasitology, environment, food safety, odor, welfare, etc) to the American Association of Swine Veterinarians, 830 26th Street, Perry, IA 50220-2328; Fax: 515-465-3832; E-mail: aasv@aasv.org.

Include the presenting author’s name, mailing address, phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address with each submission. Submissions may be e-mailed, faxed, or mailed to arrive in the AASV office by August 14, 2015 (e-mail submission preferred).

Abstracts not selected for oral presentation will be considered for poster presentation. All submitting authors will be notified of the selection results by October 1, 2015. Authors of abstracts selected for oral or poster presentation must provide their paper, formatted for publication in the meeting proceedings, by November 16, 2015.

Please note: Participation in the Research Topics oral and poster session is at the presenter’s expense. The presenter is required to register for the meeting (nonmember participants may register at the AASV regular member rate). No speaking stipend or travel expense reimbursement is paid by the AASV.

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 1-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).

Students score prizes with swine knowledge at AASV “trivia” event

Fifty-nine veterinary students from 12 universities participated in the first annual AASV Student Trivia Event, held on Saturday, February 28, at the 2015 AASV Annual Meeting in Orlando. The fun, educational competition was organized by the AASV Student Recruitment Committee and sponsored by Merck Animal Health.

Several teams of students pre-registered for the event, and additional students formed teams on-site. Each group of four or five students invented a creative team name, and one team even came outfitted in (pink!) team t-shirts.

Emcee Dr Jon Van Blarcom used a PowerPoint presentation to simultaneously quiz the 14 teams of students with 50 swine-related questions divided into three rounds. Each team conferred as a group to complete the answer sheets for the three rounds. After each round, Dr Jana Morgan and Emily Mahan-Riggs (AASV Alternate Student Delegate) worked behind the scenes to score the answer sheets. The competition was strong, with the final bonus round of questions determining the team placings announced the following evening during the Merck Student Reception.

With a total score of 41.5 points (out of 50 possible), “The Modge-Podge Crew of Misfits” received rattle paddles for their third-place finish in the competition. The team’s members – Colleen Crozier, Jessica Davenport, Kylie Glisson, Amanda Jara, and Thomas Wurtz – collectively represented North Carolina State University, the University of Georgia, and Washington State University. Iowa State University’s “Cyclone Dream Team” of Levi Johnson, Caleb Robb, Chris Sievers, and Joel Sparks edged into second place with a score of 42 and were presented with Carhart jackets for their efforts. Top honors and copies of Diseases of Swine were awarded to University of Minnesota students Jon Ertl, Ethan Spronk, Katie Wedel, and Ben Wier, whose team, “I’m Just Here So I Don’t Get Fined,” achieved a score of 43.

Several questions for the event were generously supplied by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. Questions were also prepared by Drs Nathan Schaefer, Pete Schneider, Kent Schwartz, Chase Stahl, and Jon Van Blarcom. Merck Animal Health provided the prizes and supplied snacks and beverages for the participants. The event organizers were pleased with the participation in this inaugural event, and plans are already under way for the second annual AASV Student Trivia Event next year in New Orleans.

Submit your photos

The Journal of Swine Health and Production would like to publish digital photographs submitted by our readers. Images used either on the front cover or in the photo corner on the back cover are to represent healthy pigs and modern production facilities. Please ensure that the photos do not include people. Select the largest image size available on your camera, of the quality or compression that allows you to store the fewest images on a given memory card. Do not resize, crop, rotate, or color-correct the image prior to submission to the journal. Please send the images by e-mail attachment to tina@aasv.org. Tina will also need to know your name, affiliation, and the approximate location of the subject, or other details that you would like to submit that describe the image.