USAHA News 
United States Animal Health Association 
Contact: Larry Mark (703) 451-3954; ldmark@erols.com 

For immediate release: 


"Animal Disease Surveillance" Is Theme of USAHA Annual Meeting Oct. 12-18

     RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 7, 2006 - "Animal Disease Surveillance - The Next 20 Years" is
the theme of the joint scientific session of the 110th annual meeting of the United States Animal
Health Association (USAHA) and the 49th annual meeting of the American Association of
Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) at the Minneapolis Hilton, Oct. 12-18, in
Minneapolis, Minn.

     "Today, nations throughout the world face threats to their economies, agricultural
industries and health of their citizens from diseases such as avian influenza," said Bret D. Marsh,
DVM, USAHA president.  "In the past few years, countries across the globe have dealt with a
number of serious diseases affecting agriculture, including foot-and-mouth disease, exotic
Newcastle disease, West Nile virus, SARS, monkeypox, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. 

     "These situations highlight the necessity for robust surveillance systems to detect quickly
introductions of animal diseases, as well as for the need for multi-agency and international
cooperation and collaboration to deal with them," Marsh pointed out.

     Featured speakers at this year's meeting include Juan Lubroth, United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization; Tracee Treadwell, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Pat
McCaskey, USDA Food Safety Inspection Service; Brian McCluskey, USDA Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service; Robert Cook, Wildlife Conservation Society; and Kimothy Smith,
U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  

     Topics to be addressed at the joint USAHA-AALVD scientific session include global
surveillance for avian influenza; zoonotic disease surveillance for public health; integration of
food surveillance systems; U.S. domestic animal disease surveillance; global wildlife disease
surveillance; and the future of surveillance systems, including the role of the Department of
Homeland Security.  The USAHA annual meeting is open to animal health officials, producers,
veterinarians, researchers, laboratory officials, wildlife specialists, allied organizations and others
with an interest in animal and human health and food safety.

     Other areas that will receive special attention at the week-long meeting include progress
in implementing the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), development of the National
Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), and the threat of bioterrorism to animal
agriculture.

     USAHA, the nation's animal health forum for more than a century, is a science-based,
national organization of state and federal animal health agencies, international animal health
agencies, state and federal wildlife agencies, national allied organizations, district representatives
and individual members.  It was founded in 1897 to protect animal and public health.  AAVLD is
an organization that coordinates diagnostic activities of regulatory, research and services
laboratories and disseminates information relating to diagnosis of animal diseases. 

     For information on the USAHA annual meeting agenda and registration, call (804)
285-3210 or check the USAHA web site (www.usaha.org).  In addition to the joint scientific
session, there are scheduled meetings of USAHA's 34 species- and subject-oriented
science-based committees and more than 20 supporting industry and professional organizations. 
At its meeting, AAVLD will hold 11 scientific sessions, three symposiums, and 25 committee
and subcommittee meetings.  Additional information on the AAVLD annual meeting is available
at its website (www.aavld.org).

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