NAHLN QMS Training Experiences Continuous Improvement

 

It has become clear that training on the important basic concepts and strategies of quality system implementation and management is appreciated and well-utilized by NAHLN laboratories.  The NAHLN Quality Management System (QMS) training course presented in August 2013 was a great success.  Following the quality tradition of continuous improvement, the NAHLN trainers used evaluations from previous QMS courses to improve and enhance this training opportunity.  Training materials used last year to present "How to write an SOP" were expanded into a workshop on "Document Writing."  Very similar to last year, the use of electronic "clickers" by course participants to respond to pop quiz questions embedded in each presentation provided instant feedback to presenters.  Thirty-six participants from inside the U.S. and 25 participants representing 17 countries took part in the training.  The three-and-a-half day training provided an interactive class environment that included topics such as quality management system requirements, document control, internal auditing, corrective actions, and root cause analysis.  Presentations were enhanced to include interactive opportunities including the use of "clickers" during the talks and small group workshops to engage student interest, and better determine whether the information was being understood.  A mock audit gave the participants the opportunity to practice the knowledge and techniques taught through the lectures and workshop.

At the completion of the training, participants had the opportunity to complete evaluations and provide feedback on their experiences at the QMS training.  The overall response to the training was very positive for both U.S. and international participants with the mock audit garnering the top scores.  Participants also had the opportunity at the beginning of the training week to learn more about the NCAH campus through presentations that provided an overview of NVSL, the Center for Veterinary Biologics and the National Animal Disease Center.  They were also offered a tour of our facility, which seemed to be another highlight of their experience here.

 Article submitted by Christina Loiacono, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Associate Coordinator, NAHLN Program Office,  USDA APHIS VS NVSL, Ames, IA

NAHLN and NVSL Participate in the

International Influenza Networks Meeting

The need for broadened surveillance with focus on the human-animal interface and considerations for syndromic approaches was identified as an important gap across networks.  Participants recognized the reality that public health funding may be needed to support animal health infrastructure in some areas due to the need to emphasize the importance of zoonotic diseases.  The animal health surveillance break-out group recommended improving coordination of surveillance and epidemiology across animals and humans, including data sharing.  They also recommended that sharing research on species susceptibility, reservoirs, and diagnostic assays between the animal and human health communities be improved.

Several reoccurring key themes of the meeting were: sustainability and communication across all networks - human and animal.  The emphasis on sustainability included funding concerns, but also relationships, communication, data sharing, and training.  A number of resources were presented, such as the Global Health Network as potential sites for vetted information and training.  Nearly all participants agreed communication - of data, best practices, and resources - was vital to support sustainable networks, relationships and coordinated global efforts.  Strategic use of the new age and instant modes of communication such as smartphones, Twitter and Facebook was recognized as a must.

Initial action items identified included producing a Meeting Proceedings and cataloging all known networks and their functions to make publically available.

Article submitted by Sabrina L. Swenson, DVM, PhD, Head of Bovine, Porcine, and Aquaculture Viruses Section, Diagnostic Virology Laboratory and  Nichole L. Hines, MS, PhD, Microbiologist, Diagnostic Virology Laboratory, USDA APHIS VS NVSL, Ames, IA and Sarah M. Tomlinson, DVM, NAHLN Coordinator, USDA APHIS VS NVSL, Fort Collins, CO

William C. Wagner, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACT

1932-2012

Victoria, his wife of 19 years, shared with me that once diagnosed, "Bill spent the remainder of the year living life to the fullest in the midst of traversing some pretty serious medical issues.  There is no doubt that Bill taught those around him how to live in the midst of dying."  She went on to say that this was nowhere more evident than in his pilgrimage to the CRWAD meeting where his entire family, including four grown children and many of his closest veterinary colleagues, gathered with the CRWAD general membership to recognize Bill's tremendous accomplishments and service to animal and veterinary science.  Victoria said about this risky trip to CRWAD, which would be followed in only 5 days by Bill's passing, that, "Bill achieved his focus, which pretty much summed up his life."

Bill's commitment to focus and determination was reflected as strongly in his non-professional life.  When I first met Bill, I was a new graduate student in the University of Illinois' Department of Veterinary Biosciences which he served as head. Before long, Bill had me and a few other students running with him every day at noon.  In his 40s, I soon learned, Bill was running marathons, and encouraged others to be healthier through the joys of running.  He could have left most of us in the dust during these sessions but he slowed his pace to engage us in interesting discussions.  It was during one of these jogging chats that I learned Bill had been male lead in his community theater's production of "Who's afraid of a Virginia Wolf."  This man of science and medicine, I gradually became aware, not only appreciated the arts, but participated in them.  It was Bill, too, who invited all his students and staff to an annual Christmas party at his home.  I learned many years later that he continued that tradition when he served as Director of the Animal Protection Division Director at USDA-CSREES. Bill cared about people and the arts, as well as science, and in his reserved, distinguished and very sincere manner, showed it in both word and deed.

Article submitted by Gary B. Sherman, MS, DVM, PhD, Member of the NAHLN Coordinating Council, National Program Leader, Veterinary Science, USDA NIFA Institute of Food Production and Sustainability (IFPS), Washington, DC

The USDA has conducted surveillance for BSE since 1990.  In 2004, following the December 2003 detection of BSE in an imported cow, USDA implemented an enhanced BSE surveillance program to more accurately determine the prevalence of the disease in the U.S. cattle population.

The USDA APHIS WS National Wildlife Disease Program (NWDP) was developed to implement a nationally coordinated surveillance and emergency response system in wildlife.  Its purpose is to safeguard American agriculture, human health and safety, and wildlife populations.  The NWDP is integrated with existing national animal health surveillance infrastructures, such as the NAHLN, to provide an important component in securing animal health, animal-based export trade, and safeguarding public health.   With the assistance of State, tribal, Federal, and private cooperators, the NWDP has conducted surveillance and management of over 100 pathogens, toxins, or disease syndromes at local, regional, national, or international scales.

Feral swine competing for feed with domestic cattle in New Mexico Photo Courtesy of Justin Stevenson

The charts below show the number of feral swine samples tested during Federal fiscal year (FY) 2012 and mid (FY) 2013 (October 1, 2012 - May 30, 2013) for classical swine fever (CSF), pseudorabies virus (PRV), swine brucellosis (SB), and swine influenza virus (SIV).   Testing for PRV and SIV (nasal swabs) was conducted by NAHLN laboratories, and CSF testing by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, College Station, TX and NVSL's FADDL in Plum Island, NY.  SB testing was conducted by the Veterinary Services Laboratory in Frankfort, KY, the Kansas Brucella Laboratory, Topeka, KS, and at NVSL's Diagnostic Bacteriology Laboratory, Ames, IA.