|
Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 23 1 December 2025 |
|
|
TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Editor Public Health In the News Food Safety In The News H5N1 and New World Screwworm Resources Announcements
Continuing Education |
|
|
Communications Specialist Mandy Sorensen, DVM, MPH |
|
From the Editor Hello members, As we move into the last month of 2025, I'd like to thank you all for being part of AAFSPHV. I feel so fortunate to be part of this incredible group of veterinarians. Your dedication, energy, and work are truly inspiring, particularly among these challenging times. Thank you for all you do! Below are some items that might be of particular interest, including new New World Screwworm Resources, job, volunteer, and fellowship opportunities, and more. As always, if you have any news, ideas, job or CE opportunities, or questions for me, please reach out. I'd love to hear from you!
Dues Renewals - Members, if your annual renewal date falls in December, January, or February, please help us out by paying your dues in December. We hope you find our efforts to advocate for you, educate you and keep in communication with you about current events valuable. You can renew by visiting the Member Center and clicking "Renew Your Membership" or by visiting this link. Thank you!
H5N5 Fatality in Washington State- On November 21, the Washington State Department of Health confirmed that the patient who had been hospitalized with H5N5 had died. Risk to the public remains low. Read the press release from WA DOH here. Also, an article from 2024 about H5N5 incursion to North America that may be of interest.
Pathogens Spread by High-Flying Wind-Borne Mosquitoes - A new study in PNAS looks at the impact of wind-borne mosquitoes on pathogen distribution. From the paper, "By screening approximately one thousand mosquitoes captured on nets suspended from helium balloons at 120 to 290 m above ground, we detected high rates of infection with arboviruses, protozoans, and helminths. Twenty-one mosquito-borne pathogens of vertebrates were identified including Dengue, West Nile and M’Poko viruses, Plasmodium matutinum, and Pelecitus spp." Read more here.
PREZODE-WOAH Open Call for Experts to Join One Health Dialogue - The World Organization for Animal Health and PREZODE are establishing a joint working group to enhance WOAH’s science-policy expertise by engaging in PREZODE’s Pillar 5 (stakeholder co-design). The group will focus on: Community involvement; Policy engagement and awareness of stakeholders; Science-civil society- policymakers dialogue; Promoting One Health approaches and intersectoral collaboration; OH network coordination. The call for experts to join this group is open from the 20th of November to the 19th of December. Click here to learn more and apply.
Students and Recent Grads, Don't Miss New USDA-ARS ORISE Fellowships! - USDA-ARS has just posted three ORISE fellowship opportunities. If you're interested, click here the links below to learn more. Apply by April 24, 2026. USDA-ARS Fellowship in Arbovirology
USDA-ARS Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit Fellowship
USDA-ARS Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Fellowship
Job Board - The job board is updated weekly, and there are a number of interesting roles posted currently, such as:
FAO Animal Health Officer (AMR) - Rome
Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer/Public Health Veterinarian Texas Animal Health Commission Region Director - Pleasanton
If you're hiring, feel free to send postings to editor@aafsphv.org so I can make sure to share them with fellow members.
One Health Heroes - We have been partnering with Dr. Brittany Lancellotti of Your Vet Wants You To Know to bring public health information to pet owners and veterinary professionals twice monthly in a segment called 'One Health Heroes'. You can listen to episodes here on Apple Podcasts or here on Spotify. It's a great experience and platform, and if you'd be interested in sharing your expertise on a One Health topic on the podcast, please email me at editor@aafsphv.org
|
|
|
PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE NEWS |
| |
Companion animal health surveillance systems: An environmental scan
Grieve, H., Epp, T., Greer, A. L., Weese, J. S., & Grant, L. E. (2025). Companion animal health surveillance systems: An environmental scan. Preventive veterinary medicine, 247, 106749. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106749
Monitoring of companion animal zoonotic diseases in Canada is limited by the lack of a comprehensive companion animal health surveillance system, capable of integrating environmental and public health data. To guide the development of a suitable surveillance framework, we conducted an environmental scan of companion animal heath surveillance systems globally. Using academic and grey literature database searches, supplemented with targeted internet searching, we identified 12,718 unique sources. After screening, 257 sources were deemed eligible for inclusion. These sources identified 119 national or regional surveillance and control programs (which were not further characterized) and 33 companion animal health surveillance systems. We extracted information relating to surveillance scope, data source and collection methods, integration of environmental and public health data, and data dissemination methods. In total, 48.5 % (n = 16/33) of the systems relied on submission of data by veterinary professionals or others, whilst 42.4 % (n = 14) extracted data from electronic health records and veterinary diagnostic laboratory data. Surveillance scope included infectious diseases (n = 13), cause of death (n = 2), cancer (n = 1), and toxin exposure (n = 1). Some systems were not focused on specific health outcomes (n = 12). Only 9.1 % (n = 3) of systems integrated environmental or public health data at the point of data collection. However, other systems utilized environmental data during the analysis phase (27.3 %, n = 9). Surveillance systems largely disseminated surveillance outputs through reports (30.3 %, n = 10) and direct feedback to contributors (27.3 %, n = 9). By conducting this environmental scan, we provide a summary of global companion animal health surveillance efforts. Notably, there are few examples of fully integrated companion animal health surveillance systems using a One Health approach.
Read More |
|
|
Surveillance of Salmonella in Cull Boar, Sow, and Gilt Lymph Nodes and Tonsils from Six Cull Hog Processing Facilities in the United States
Zhang, S., Brashears, R. L., Brashears, M. M., Sanchez, M. X., & Gragg, S. E. (2025). Surveillance of Salmonella in Cull Boar, Sow, and Gilt Lymph Nodes and Tonsils from Six Cull Hog Processing Facilities in the United States. Journal of food protection, 88(12), 100642. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfp.2025.100642
Salmonella is associated with the environment, gastrointestinal tract, and lymph nodes (LNs) of pigs. Contamination in LNs of cull hogs may lead to contamination of carcasses, sausages, and other pork products. To better understand the public health risks of contaminated lymphatic tissues, a cross-sectional analysis of Salmonella in the LNs and tonsils of cull hogs processed at six facilities across two regions of the United States during different seasons was conducted. A total of 3,824 samples from 560 carcasses were included in this study. From each carcass, six LNs (axillary [ALN], mesenteric [MLN], subiliac [SLN], tracheobronchial [TLN], superficial inguinal [SILN], and prescapular [PLN]), and tonsils were collected. The BAX® System Real-Time Salmonella Assay and BAX®-System-SalQuant® methods were used to detect and estimate Salmonella concentration in samples, respectively. Salmonella prevalence was 12.3% overall, 36.9% in tonsils, 29.7% in MLNs, 8.2% in SILNs, 2.5% in PLNs, 4.5% in TLNs, 2.0% in ALNs, and 0.7% in SLNs. Salmonella prevalence was greatest for tonsils in the summer/fall (42.6%), though season was not significant (P = 0.1132). For MLNs, Salmonella prevalence in spring (35.2%) and summer/fall (32.5%) was significantly greater (P < 0.05) than winter (18.3%). Salmonella prevalence was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in SILNs during winter (19.2%) than spring (0.5%) and summer/fall (2.2%) in the eastern region. Of the 70 MLNs that were enumerable, estimated concentration (log Salmonella cells/sample) was greatest (P < 0.05) during winter (2.8) in comparison to summer/fall (1.8) and spring (0.7) in the eastern region. At the carcass level, 332 (59.3%) harbored Salmonella in one or more samples, and prevalence did not vary by season (P = 0.1495) or region (P = 0.8669). These data suggest that seasonal factors impact Salmonella contamination in specific lymph nodes and can be used by the industry for risk assessment and Salmonella mitigation strategies.
Read More |
|
|
What to know:
To view confirmed cases in poultry, you can view the USDA H5N1 Confirmed Cases in Poultry page.
To view confirmed cases in dairy cattle, visit the USDA HPAI Confirmed Cases in Livestock Page. Updates:
November 21, 2025: A human death from complications related to H5N5 confirmed in Gray's County, WA. Read more here.
September 30, 2025: FDA Requires Cat & Dog Manufacturer Food Safety Plans To Consider H5N1
From FDA - "During the fall migratory season, H5N1 detections typically increase throughout the United States in wild birds, with potential spread to commercial and backyard poultry flocks. Given this seasonal pattern, the FDA is reissuing this CVM Update to remind pet food manufacturers that H5N1 represents a known or reasonably foreseeable hazard when using certain ingredients." Read the full update here.
July 7, 2025: "...CDC streamlined H5N1 bird flu updates with routine influenza data updates and updated reporting cadences to reflect the current public health situation. As such, the following changes were made to this page: Data on the number of people monitored and tested for bird flu are reported monthly.
USDA data on HPAI detections in animals will no longer be reported on the CDC website. These data can be found on USDA's website. CDC will continue to report any additional human cases of H5 bird flu here and in FluView."
Visit the CDC's H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation page |
|
|
New World Screwworm Current Situation and Resources |
|
|
Latest Updates:
On November 21, USDA released an update stating, "As of November 21, NWS has not been detected in any animals or traps in the United States, and the vast majority of cases within Mexico remain concentrated in southern parts of the country." USDA also launched new, comprehensive resource for veterinarians, producers, other health professionals, and the general public. Visit screwworm.gov for all the latest, as well as information on how to report suspected cases, treatment, and much more. Read the November 21 update here.
On November 21, 2025, FDA issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for Credelio Cat for the treatment of New World Screwworm in cats and kittens. Read the FDA release here.
On November 13, 2025, USDA issued a press release. From the release, "Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the next milestone in the fight against New World screwworm (NWS) – the opening of a sterile fly dispersal facility in Tampico, Mexico. The Tampico facility will allow USDA to disperse sterile flies aerially across northeastern Mexico, including in Nuevo Leon." Read the full press release here.
Screwworm Resources:
A great, concise article from the AVMA on NWS diagnosis, treatment, and how to report cases can be found here.
The USDA APHIS page on New World Screwworm can be found here.
The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension New World Screwworm Fact Sheet can be found here.
USDA APHIS Training Module 41 on New World Screwworm can be found here. This is highly recommended viewing for all veterinarians. |
|
|
Executive Vice President, Katherine Waters, DVM, MPH, DACVPM |
|
Call For Nominations for AAFSPHV Board of Directors Seat |
The AAFSPHV is seeking candidates for the following Board of Directors position for a 3-year term from Nov 2025 - Sept 2028:
Director, Education, Research, and Extension
DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: Dec 31 2025
We welcome self-nominations. Information about this position is listed below. Directors are members of the governing board. Meetings are held via Zoom for 1 hour once a month. This Director should plan to participate in our standing committee on Student Outreach.
Members who would like to nominate themselves or another member should fill out the nomination form by clicking here.
AVMA membership is required for our Governing Board members.
Questions? Contact Katherine Waters at executivevp@aafsphv.org
AAFSPHV Bylaws concerning Directors: ARTICLE XI: DIRECTORS
Section 1: The minimum number of Directors of this association shall be six, with one Director from each of the following employment sectors: Federal (Civilian), State/Local, Uniformed Services, Private, Education/Research/Extension, and At-Large.
Section 2: The terms of office for the current Directors shall be three years and their terms shall be staggered.
Section 3: The Directors will serve as members of the Governing Board and will provide specialized employment sector advice, support, and assistance in determining the policies and pursuing the objectives of the association.
Section 7: All members of the Governing Board shall be current AVMA members.
|
| |
|
AVMA Volunteer Positions Available We invite you to explore the AVMA Committee and Council positions available currently
and in 2026. Please visit the Volunteer Opportunities section of the AVMA website to learn more. The list of vacancies includes incumbents whose terms end in July 2026 and are identified by an asterisk (*) next to their names. Please note that those individuals
eligible for reappointment must still be nominated to be considered.
For those positions with the Nominations Due date listed as "Ongoing", nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis until all positions are filled. The candidate's nomination form and resume must be received at least 30 days prior to the Board of Directors (BOD) meeting at which the appointment is to be considered.
For positions expiring in July 2026, the deadline to submit nominations for Committee positions is March 1, 2026, and the deadline to submit nominations for Council positions is May 1, 2026. REMINDERS: • All Committee nominations must include the Nomination Form and a resume (2 pages maximum). • For Councils, a nomination is considered complete only when each of the following has been received: Nomination Form, Campaign Guide document, photo and 2-
minute video. Complete nominations received by the May 1 deadline will be included in the Campaign Guide that is disseminated to the House of Delegates members prior to the HOD meeting. Nominations received after the May 1 deadline will require a nomination from the floor during the HOD meeting and must be received no later than 10 days before the HOD Session at which they will occur. • If you have a question or would like to learn more about a specific position, please
contact AVMA at OfficeEVP@avma.org or at 847-285-6605. • If you are interested in volunteering for a position and having AAFSPHV nominate
you, please contact Dr. Kristen Clark, AAFSPHV AVMA Delegate, at Kristen.Clark@state.mn.us and be prepared to provide your CV and a brief purpose statement. |
|
|
| Experiencing hardship?
The AVMA offers reduced dues or dues exemption for qualified applicants.
To learn more and apply click here |
|
|
|
Not One More Vet offers a variety of resources to support veterinary professionals including micro-grants for those experiencing hardship. To learn more about the resources NOMV features, visit them here.
To learn more about micro-grants, click here. |
|
|
Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine Beyond Private Practice Webinar Series Expanding Horizons: Veterinary Careers in State Government We look forward to seeing you there to hear brief presentations from Dr. Maggie Baldwin (State Veterinarian for Colorado) and Dr. Kyle Shipman (State Veterinarian for Indiana) who will share insights on:
Key roles and responsibilities of veterinarians in state government Organizational structure of entities responsible for animal health at the state level (agricultural agency vs. animal health board) Hiring pathways, qualifications, and benefits for veterinarians in state service
Speakers will also share about their personal career journeys, skills and experience that have been helpful in their careers, and advice for veterinarians and students interested in pursuing state government careers.
When: 4 December at 5pm Eastern Time
Where: Zoom Webinar
Cost: Free!
To Register for the Webinar: Click HERE
|
|
|
Looking for more CE or have a CE event you'd like to share?
View our full calendar here
To share an upcoming event, please email me at editor@aafsphv.org |
|
|
Please follow AAFSPHV on Social Media. We just joined bluesky |
| |
|
AAFSPHV News Brief Vol 5 Iss 23 www.aafsphv.org |
|
|
|
