AAVLD President Elect & Program Chair Message

It’s almost time!  In a little over a month, we will be in Aurora, CO for the 2025 AAVLD/USAHA Annual Meeting!  Please join us for a week of collaboration, innovation, and networking at the forefront of animal health and diagnostics.  Finalize your plans now so that you don’t miss what promises to be a fantastic meeting.  The AAVLD room block at the Gaylord closes on October 7, and early bird registration closes on October 16.

This year’s meeting spans Halloween, so we have many treats in store for you (pun intended!).  This year’s Foundation Banquet & Auction falls on Halloween and will be a festive and spooktacular event with a costume contest and other fun.  The Keynote Session at the Presidents Dinner will feature six of our favorite AAVLD and USAHA veterans with tales straight from the trenches.  Our Plenary Session will bring you up to speed on topics including AI-based image analysis, electron microscopy, value-added usage of LIMS data, synergy between classical and modern virology, new surprises from avian influenza, and more – all under the theme “What’s old is new again”.

South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association (SDVMA)

Awards Zeman

At the recent annual meeting of the South Dakota Veterinary Medical Association (SDVMA), Dr. David Zeman was awarded the association’s highest award, the SDVMA Distinguished Service Award.

The award is in recognition of distinguished support and contributions to the veterinary profession. He previously received the SDVMA Veterinarian of the Year Award in 2003. Dr. Zeman was a tenured professor, pathologist, diagnostician, department head, and laboratory director at the SDSU Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (now retired).  

AAVLD Website Optimization - Request for Proposal

Background

The American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) has a website for enhanced communications with organization members, affiliated organizations, and the public.

Your AAVLD leaders have signed onto a letter campaign directed at the EPA to encourage preservation of the usage of formalin (formaldehyde) for biomedical purposes.  The letter is spearheaded by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and encourages EPA to use science-based data and appropriate risk analysis and assessment.  See the letter linked below.   

FY26 IRIS Appropriations Letter

MN VDL WELCOMES NEW ANATOMIC PATHOLOGIST

 GRAND OPENING OF MISSOURI VMDL

On April 18^th, 2025,  the University of Missouri celebrated a grand opening for the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) Phase I building and a groundbreaking for the  VMDL Phase II building. The phase I building ( 34,200 sf) was funded by the state of Missouri ($15 million) and the College of Veterinary Medicine ($15 million). The Phase II building ( ~40,000 sf) is funded by the state ($43 million) and will be named the Dr. Dan Brown Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Building. The late Dr. Dan Brown was an alumnus of the College and served in the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate. The new facility will enable the VMDL to improve its capabilities and capacity in educating veterinary students and supporting the veterinary community and agricultural sector.

KSU ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR NEW KVDL

On April 11, the Kansas Legislature voted to fund a new veterinary diagnostic laboratory facility for the State of Kansas at Kansas State.  The funding provided is $128 million, and fundraising efforts are planned for additional funding.  With the recognition by the Kansas Legislature, the Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KSVDL) will begin the long transition to the Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (KVDL)at  Kansas State.  Thanks to all of our fellow labs who helped us get this accomplished!

Karriker Named Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine Department Chair and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Executive Director

2025 NEUSAHA Meeting Held in Harrisburg

The 2025 NEUSAHA annual meeting occurred this year in April at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to connect with colleagues outside the usual October gathering and was a welcome change from virtual meetings. The inclusive nature of our regional group, which includes AAVLD representation, was notable, and the meeting featured interesting presentations on topics ranging from rabies and HPAI to mRNA vaccines and market prices. A highlight included multiple laboratory speakers from the NAHLN and NADPRP-funded “Transboundary, Regional Emerging and Novel Disease (TREND) Rounds,” an initiative open for northeast AAVLD members to join (email Rob to receive communications: [email protected]). The meeting attendees also had the opportunity to tour the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory that is across the street from the PA Expo Center. We look forward to seeing the rest of our amazing colleagues at the annual meeting this October, where NE AAVLD Representative Melanie Prarat (Ohio) and her virology co-chair, Roman Pogranichniy (Kansas) are presenting a one-day symposium, "International Experiences with High Consequence Animal Disease Outbreaks and Response" that includes speakers from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Singapore and other countries.

AAVLD Northeast Region Update

-         Craig Sarver, DVM, retired for the second time from the Ohio Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL). Dr. Sarver provided 32 years of service as a pathologist at the ADDL, retiring in 2022. He returned in a part-time capacity to provide continued pathology support and retired for a second time this past April. Craig is known for his expertise in poultry pathology, and the lab may ask him to come back in the winter if he isn’t busy touring all of the national parks.

MN VDL WELCOMES NEW FOOD ANIMAL PATHOLOGIST

Zeman Named LSU SVM PhD Alumnus of the Year 

The Executive and Government Relations Committees joined USAHA in DC in late March to meet with government agencies involved in animal health.  At the time of the meeting, there was a lot of concern about the status of positions in those federal agencies that affect our ability to test for animal diseases.  We are closely monitoring the reductions in force and are extremely concerned about the status of positions in key agencies, and the effects the reductions in force will have on our labs. On the positive side, in speaking with staffers with the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committees, there Although NAHLN staff and FDA Vet-LIRN positions have thus far been protected, loss of NAHLN staff due to the Deferred Resignation Program (accelerated retirement option), and loss of support staff and senior leadership in FDA brings questions about how the programs will be administered.

remains a commitment to funding the Farm Bill and NAHLN efforts because the importance of our labs in protecting animal health and trade is well-recognized. 

It’s already time to start gearing up for the 2025 AAVLD/USAHA Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Gaylord Rockies Hotel in Aurora, CO, from October 30 to November 5, 2025!  The Program Committee and the leadership of AAVLD and USAHA have been hard at work putting together a great meeting for you.

We are looking forward to hearing all of the great work that has been going on in our member labs and with other collaborative partners.  The abstract submission portal is open now, with abstract submissions closing on June 27, 2025.  We encourage both oral and poster in-person presentations.  Trainee travel and trainee presentation awards are available to promote excellence in the diagnostic discipline as well as develop presentation skills.  Please note that applicants for trainee presentation awards must submit either a recording of their presentation (for oral presentations) or a PDF of their poster (for poster presentations) by October 9^th, 2025.

Bovine herpesviral meningoencephalitis:
large case study and literature review, Bethânia S. Santos, Ricardo A. A. Lemos, Raquel R. Rech,