Cover story in Bovine Veterinarian explains role of AgConnect technology in syndromic surveillance program

Woman enters data into an iPad.

The latest issue of Bovine Veterinarians features a cover story on the role of the FAZD Center’s AgConnect data-sharing technology in using syndromic surveillance to monitor for outbreaks of animal diseases. The story explains how the technology is enhancing a pilot program in New Mexico and Texas that equips food-animal veterinarians with iPads to report disease symptoms in real time. The technology also allows managers to analyze the data as it comes in. The story features epidemiologist Dr. Lindsey Holmstrom and principal investigator Dr. Tom Hairgrove, as well as… Read More →

Grants will fund international training program for mid-career scientists

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service and Department of Defense Defense Threat Reduction Agency (USDA FAS and DOD DTRA) awarded a $140,000 grant to the FAZD Center for an international training program for mid-career scientists. Partners include the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Texas Animal Health Commission, and USDA Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health to train personnel in the countries of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania so that they may develop disease surveillance, diagnostics, and monitoring systems for Brucellosis detection and surveillance. Personnel from these… Read More →

USDA grant will fund training in diagnostics and lab management to personnel from Turkmenistan

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) Cochran Program awarded a $53,954 grant to the FAZD Center and the Borlaug Institute to train personnel from Turkmenistan in veterinary disease diagnostics and laboratory management. Personnel from Turkmenistan will travel to the U.S. to learn veterinary diagnostic skills from FAZD collaborators, including the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, Caliber Biotherapeutics, the National Center for Therapeutics and Manufacturing, the Texas Institute for Pre-Clinical Studies, Applied Biosystems, and… Read More →

Adams and Peters publish article detailing safety and efficacy trials of MP-12 vaccine candidates in sheep

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Principal investigators Dr. Garry Adams and  Dr. C.J. Peters published  a paper titled “Safety and Immunogenicity of Recombinant Rift Valley Fever MP-12 Vaccine Candidates in Sheep” in the January 2013 issue of the journal Vaccine. The paper details safety and efficacy trials of the MP-12 vaccine candidates in sheep.  The authors evaluated neutralizing antibody response and clinical response in ewes inoculated with the vaccine candidates and observed an antibody response, but no abortions. The paper is available on PubMed.gov. Dr. Adams is a professor of veterinary pathology at… Read More →

Kazakhstan will send scholar to study advanced techniques in epidemiology, veterinary diagnostics and biosurveillance

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The Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and the Boloshak Foundation awarded a $68,219 grant to the FAZD Center to send a visiting scholar to the United States to learn the latest techniques in epidemiology, veterinary diagnostics, and biosurveillance from the following collaborators: Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), and Texas A&M AgriLife Research. A reciprocal visit will be made to the National Center for Biotechnology in Astana, Kazakhstan. The grant follows up on the success of a 2011-12 program… Read More →

Next open call for proposals is anticipated for October 2013

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The FAZD Center expects to hold its next open call for proposals in October, the center said today. Through a peer-review process, the FAZD Center periodically considers white papers for competitively funding research and development (R&D) and education projects that can be completed in a 24-month period or less. These projects will relate to transformative, evolving and/or maturing research and development technologies that demonstrate significant improvement in the FAZD Center mission or operations of FAZD Center stakeholders. International submissions are encouraged. To learn more about the process, visit… Read More →

DHS grant will fund creation of a template for livestock emergency response plans

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of University Programs awarded a $94,875 grant to the FAZD Center, Kansas State University, and the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center to review and assess FEMA-produced documents that assist in the Food and Agriculture Sector in the development of integrated, coordinated, and synchronized emergency operation plans to better respond to incidents within the sector. This 12-month project will result in the creation of a livestock emergency response plan template to be added to FEMA materials to assist state, local, tribal, and territorial… Read More →

Senior’s research places second at Southern Science Symposium competition

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Martha Echevarria, a senior undergraduate student mentored by Dr. Pamela J. Ferro in the laboratory of Dr. Blanca Lupiani at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, was awarded second place in the Southern Science Symposium: Cell Biology and Careers competition. Echevarria presented her research titled “The Investigation of Simport Matrix-Chaperones for Avian Influenza Sample Storage and Transportation” at the Ponce School of Medicine and Health Science in Ponce, Puerto Rico in November. Dr. Lupiani is a FAZD Center principal investigator.

Bioo Scientific produces monoclonal antibodies to improve diagnostics for Rift Valley fever virus

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A FAZD Center partner is helping to enhance the speed and accuracy of diagnostic tests for a contagious disease that kills livestock and harms humans. Bioo Scientific, a biotechnology company based in Austin, Texas, delivered 30 monoclonal antibodies in 2012 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit. The USDA unit intends to use the antibodies to develop a rapid field test to detect and diagnose the virus that causes Rift Valley fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes and other biting insects, the virus infects livestock and… Read More →

Dallas-area students tour veterinary college, diagnostic lab during career-development event

High school students watch a veterinary diagnostician working with computer.

Students from a Dallas-area high school toured a major college of veterinary medicine and one of the nation’s busiest veterinary diagnostic laboratories during a Dec. 12 career event in College Station, Texas. Two members of the FAZD Center participated in the event, which exposed the students to a wide range of opportunities in veterinary medicine. It also allowed them to meet and observe veterinary professionals on the job. About 40 students from R.L. Turner High School in the Carrolton/Farmers Branch School District attended the event.  The students belong to… Read More →