Issue 6, December 2009

The Chair’s End of Year Message and Greeting

I have been in this position for about 6 months now. It has been an enjoyable experience for me and I hope that it will continue to be so. As we take a few days to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, I am inspired to share this wish with you at this special time of the year, that there may be peace on earth and love in the hearts of all mankind this holiday season and always. As we reflect on our successes in 2009, let us be thankful of those who played their part, and then look forward to a productive 2010, and to welcoming new faculty, staff and graduate students who will be joining our department.

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday. Fred Kibenge

The Chinook Project

Drs Lisa Miller and Jane Magrath presented on “The Chinook Project” at the AVC Seminar Series on November 20, 2009.  Their presentation provided information on the Project’s inception and its development; it also explained how the Project provides veterinary services to dogs in Northern communities in Nunavut. To date, the project has made 4 trips north and served close to 400 dogs in 3 different communities.  This year the Project plans to go to Labrador.  The Chinook Project allows 2 clinicians, 4 final year vet students and a coordinator or technician to take supplies and vaccinations and provide free vaccination, neutering and wellness checks.   Over the years, Drs Hopson, Carey, Foley and Moak have volunteered their services, and more than 16 vet students have participated in this experience.  In addition to providing veterinary service, Chinook participants engage in a variety of cultural activities in the communities; the students also produce creative non-fiction pieces about their experience–these pieces will ultimately be published as part of a collection.  Many people are committed to this project and believe it is a valuable service for both Northern Communities and the student veterinarians at AVC.

American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP)

Of the 20 mystery cases submitted from around the world and selected by the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) to review at their 2009 meeting, two were from our department.

At this December meeting in Monterey, California, Dr Betsy O’Neil presented a case of a regenerative anemia in a foal and Dr Shelley Burton presented a case (submitted by Dr Noel Clancey) of babesiosis in a fox.

Photo: Dr Shelley Burton and Dr David Honor, her MSc supervisor and former Clinical Pathologist at AVC.

   WHO/PAHO Workshop, the International Health Regulations (IHR)
and the Concept of One World, One Health

On December 10-11, a workshop organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO), took place in Panama City.  The workshop’s goal was to update PAHO on the advances made by Central American countries and the Dominican Republic in the road to implementing the recently revised International Health Regulations (IHR).  The IHR aims to enhance national, regional and global public health security; it entered into force in 2007 and applies to the 194 countries who are members of the WHO.  Part of the implementation plan for the IHR was the assessment of each country’s surveillance and response capacities by June 2009 and the development and implementation of plans of action to ensure that these core capacities are functioning by 2012.  At the workshop, representatives from the human and animal health sectors from Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic reviewed the result of the evaluations.  Dr María Forzán, wildlife pathologist for the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre based at the AVC, was invited to present a talk about the One World, One Health™ concept, highlighting the importance of cross-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration in the implementation of the IHR.

Innovative Diagnostic Tool for Mussel Health Management

The Mollusk Health Laboratory at the Department of Pathology and Microbiology (AVC/UPEI) led by Dr Ahmed Siah has been awarded a research grant through the Innovation PEI Pilot Fund for the project entitled "Innovative diagnostic tool for mussel health management". The project is aiming at developing a diagnostic kit, which will be an early-stage diagnostic tool for mollusk health and disease management. The new technology being used, bead-based flow cytometry technology, offers the advantage of screening the genes with a rapid, high sensitivity/specificity and high throughput analysis. The development of such an early warning diagnostic tool will greatly contribute to a more efficient management of mollusk health by preventing and anticipating emerging diseases at their early stage in wild and cultured stocks.  There was stiff competition in this round; Ahmed's application was ranked 2nd out of 16 projects considered for funding in this round of Innovation PEI Pilot Fund. Congratulations to Dr Siah and his (MHL) team.
Photo: Dr Siah and Patricia McKenna.

American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists Education Symposium

Dr Gary Conboy was the program coordinator for the Second American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists Education Symposium. The symposium was held at the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Stillwater, OK December 11-12, 2009. The theme of the meeting was "Clinical Competencies and Outcome Assessment Options in Veterinary Parasitology". The keynote speaker was Dr Elizabeth Hardie, Chair, Department of Clinical sciences, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. There were 34 attendees to the symposium representing 20 North American veterinary schools. In addition to clinical competencies, the possibility of sharing teaching samples, images and exam questions was also discussed.

Histopathology Workshop in Mexico

Dr Alfonso López traveled to Monterrey, México, on December 7-11 as consultant for a histopathology workshop held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nuevo Leon (UANL).  This workshop, sponsored by the Pathobiology Group at UANL, was organized to review common and unusual cases submitted by small animal and feedlot veterinary practitioners. Also in attendance were Drs Rafael Ramírez, Luis E. Rodríguez (PhD AVC’03), Alicia Nevárez (MSc AVC’02) and Gustavo Hernandez. Mycoplasma bovis and Babesia argentina are important bovine diseases in Mexico, and Trypanozoma cruzi is emerging also as an important protozoal disease in dogs.

Charles L. Davis  Foundation Student Scholarship Award

Dr Carolyn Legge was the recipient of the 2009 Charles Louis Davis Foundation Student Scholarship Award.  This award is given to a resident/graduate student of an institutional member who has displayed superior scholarship, leadership, research ability and diagnostic skills. Dr Legge is an MVSc-Resident in Anatomic Pathology doing research on Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Juvenile Toy Manchester Terrier Dogs.  A certificate and a plaque will be presented to Dr Legge soon.
Congratulations to Dr Legge!

Appointment to BMC Molecular Biology Editorial Board

Congratulations to Dr Fred Kibenge who has been appointed Associate Editor of BMC Molecular Biology <http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmolbiol/edboard/>

This is one of the "Open Access" peer-reviewed journals within the (BioMed Central) BMC series. BMC Molecular Biology publishes articles on all aspects of DNA and RNA in a cellular context. It has published 10 volumes to date; volume 1 was in October 2000. The journal is indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, EMBASE, Scopus and Google Scholar, and presently has an Impact Factor of 2.81.

Recent Publications

Álvarez BFJ, Aburto FEM, Aristi UG, Chávez GG. Histological and immunophenotypic study of canine lymphoma in the center of Mexico. Vet Mex 2009; 40:141-155.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Ms Diane McClean and Ms Rita Saunders for secretarial assistance, and  Drs Maria Forzan and Shelley Burton for their time and patience helping me with the edition of this  newsletter in 2009.  I also would like to take this opportunity to wish faculty, staff and students happy holidays and a prosperous 2010. The Editor

Please don’t print this newsletter unless you really need to!

For comments or suggestions for our newsletter, please contact Alfonso Lopez  <lopez@upei.ca>

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