Jerseys

By: Emily Waggoner

University of Georgia

Class of 2013   

Trivia Results

Here's the Trivia Q and A from this round of Vet Gazette Submission. There were lots of correct answers- thanks to all who submitted!

Congratulations to our winner Amanda Smith from the University of Illinois.

Q:  2 schools were recently granted accreditation by the AVMA Council on Education for the first time.  Which schools are they, where are they located, and for how long does veterinary accreditation last?

A: 

1. National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Veterinary Medicine (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia Ciudad Universitaria), Mexico City
2. Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, West Indies

Their Veterinary accreditation lasts 7 years.

Public Health and Community Outreach- Current Topics

This is one of a series of articles and links brought to you by the SAVMA Public Health & Community Outreach Committee -- PHCOC aims to educate veterinary students about emerging issues in veterinary medicine, increase veterinary medical service to underserved areas, and encourage youth to consider a career in veterinary medicine.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/03/border-states-want-to-keep-yellowstones-brucellosis-at-bay/

States Draw Line Against Yellowstone Brucellosis

by Dan Flynn | Mar 08, 2011

        The cattle states of Colorado and Nebraska are putting up some defenses over what's going on with brucellosis up in the Yellowstone country of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

         The two states that share borders with Wyoming are putting stricter animal identification requirements in effect for cattle that have spent any time in the Yellowstone Park area.

Until Texas recently discovered eight head of cattle at Rio Grande City suffering from bovine brucellosis, the area in and around Yellowstone National Park was the only part of the West experiencing the bacterial infections also known as Bang's disease.

         Texas was free of Bang's disease for five years until the Texas Animal Health Commission came back last month with positive tests from R.Y. Livestock Sales at Rio Grande City.

         In animals brucellosis can cause calves to abort, only weak calves to be born, and reduced milk production. Known as undulant fever in humans, a brucellosis infection can come from unpasteurized milk or contact with birthing material of a infected cow or new-borne calves.

Yellowstone -- the flagship of the national park system -- covers 2.2 million acres, making it larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.  With populations of bison, moose, elk, pronghorn, and two species of bear, it isn't getting on top of its brucellosis problem fast enough for cattlemen.

The Wyoming Livestock Board's Jim Schwartz is not surprised that states like Colorado and Nebraska are going to be more careful about Cowboy State cattle. He says the neighboring states are just trying to protect their livestock.

        Beginning Sept. 1, Colorado will require that all sexually intact female cattle that have spent any time near Yellowstone carry a Colorado-approved ear. The Wyoming Legislature, which has already adjourned for the year, opted not to go with an animal identification system that might have helped.

Wyoming cattlemen have long opposed animal ID programs. Lawmakers will not return to Cheyenne until 2012.

       Nebraska has published draft rules that could take effect as early as April 1. Cattle account for half of all agricultural sales in both Colorado and Nebraska and total more than $10 billion.

The Yellowstone problem was again demonstrated when initial tests from a five-year study of 100 elk in Ruby Valley came back with 12 animals positive for brucellosis.

Montana's state veterinarian, Marty Zaluski, said the results were disappointing.

The Ruby Valley is adjacent to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem where elk are infected.   

Montana ranchers fear the bison even more than the elk when it comes to Bang's disease.  The state holds more than 500 head of bison that have left the park because of concern they will transmit the disease to cattle.

         But the only proven transmission of brucellosis to cattle so far has been from the elk.  The five-year study is intended to produce information on how to best manage the risk elk pose to livestock.

The bison that migrated to state lands can be hunted down and killed, according to a federal judge.  And Montana's governor has put a ban on bison entering Montana out of concern about brucellosis.

The Montana Senate, by wide margins, has sent bills to the House that would specify that the bison are " a species requiring disease control" and another that would make the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Department subordinate to the Department of Livestock. 

        Bison would not be able to roam free any where in Montana, except maybe on Indian reservations.

Dr. Bernard Bang, a Danish veterinarian, first isolated the cause of bovine brucellosis in 1897.

Cattle are tested for brucellosis at least one a year.  Young animals get the "calfhood" vaccination and an ear tattoo with a birth date.

Feral Cat Alliance Megaclinic

By: Jennifer Stecher

Iowa State Univeristy, Class of 2012

Iowa State University Feral Cat Alliance (FCA) is a volunteer, veterinary student organization under the supervision of ISU College of Veterinary Medicine faculty and staff that is dedicated to serving central Iowa communities by humanely controlling the feral cat population.  Our mission is to humanely reduce the feral cat population by using a trap, neuter, and return program (TNR).  TNR programs allow feral cat colonies to be humanely trapped by their caretakers and transported to our ISU facility to be surgically sterilized, vaccinated, receive a topical dewormer, and become ear tipped.  Afterwards, the cats are returned to their caretakers to be released back into the wild (their territory).   

FCA holds monthly clinics and an annual Megaclinic at ISU College of Veterinary Medicine.  On Saturday, September 18, 2010, FCA held their annual Megaclinic.  Over one hundred ISU veterinary students, eleven ISU/local veterinarians and several ISU staff worked to surgically sterilize, vaccinate and deworm one hundred feral cats.

With the help of SAVMA ELC Grant, FCA was able to fund this endeavor to surgically sterilize feral cats and provide education to the local community and veterinary students about the behavior, medical risks, infectious disease risks, and overpopulation issues of feral cats.   Feral cat overpopulation is a huge issue in the central Iowa community and FCA’s monthly clinics and the annual Megaclinic attempt to reduce these numbers through our spaying and neutering efforts.  It was approximated that at the Megaclinic, we prevented about 90-110 pregnancies and 450-500 kittens from being born this year alone.  This was a great accomplishment for the Feral Cat Alliance and Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine.  

Travel, Research, Good Friends, and Good Times!

By: Jane Na

Michigan State University, Class of 2012

(Editor's note: applications for 2012 are due at the beginning of Februrary, so keep an eye out next year!)

The Fundamentals of Veterinary Science Summer School at the University of Cambridge made my last free summer of veterinary school absolutely unforgettable.  The program was amazing!  It was a chance of a life-time to be able to carry out research at a world reknowned institution in England!  It was also a chance to meet other veterinary students from around the world and learn about different countries, cultures, customs, and talk about our lab work but also travel and have fun.

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