Volume 5 Number 2 AAVDM June 27, 2000

Annual Meeting Announcement and Agenda: Joanne Howl, DVM
VECCS Contents
Kudos for Dr. John Anderson
Announcements
National Animal Disaster Conference:  Cindy Lovern, DVM, MS
Academy Members Attend National Disaster Medical Systems Annual Convention:  Lorna Lanman, DVM
Los Animals Fires (preview)
Drought in Eastern Africa Causes Concern:  Reprint, EMPRES-Livestock
Pro-med Reports Seal Die-Off—Kazakhstan
The Importance of a Thorough and Organized Search and Rescue Effort Following a Disaster:  Dick Green, EdD
Pro-med Reports Vulture Die-Off—India
Maelstrom
Resources

Submitted by Joanne Howl, DVM—Secretary/Treasurer

I. Call to Order

II. Reading and approval of Minutes of last annual meeting

III. Reading and approval of Treasurer's Report

IV. Old Business

Report on website

membership listings

newsletter publication

other website issues

Report on Certification for FEMA course

Report on new logo

Review of AAVDM activities and educational goals. Should we reprioritize?

Fund Raising/ sponsorship

Membership Drive

V. Comments from the President

VI. Nominations Committee Report

Current Nominees:

Officers—

President: Dr. Lorna Lanman

Vice President: Dr. Julia Allen

Sec/Treas: Dr. Joanne Howl

Directors (2 positions open)—

Dr. John H. Anderson

Dr. Garry Goemann

Dr. Barry Kellogg

Dr. Cindy Lovern

VII. Election of New Officers

VIII. Comments from the new President

IX: New Business

Nominations for Honorary Membership

Report on USDA Consortium

USDA coordination of animal disaster issues

Discussion of Direction of Newsletter

Newsletter survey review

Editorial position

Advertising

Instituting public awareness

Pet food boxes for public awareness

Improving our Booth

X: Meeting Adjournment

April-June 2000 Volume 10, Number 2

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

Successful Management of Traumatic Right Atrial Rupture:  Angela L. Witt, DVM, Karol A. Mathews, DVM, DVSC,
    David L. Holmberg, DVM, MVSc
Peritoneal Dialysis: A Tool in Veterinary Critical Care:  Lisa Ann Dzyban, DVM, Mary Anna Labato, DVM,
    Linda A. Ross, DVM, MS
Perethrin Spot-On Toxicoses in Cats:  Jill A. Richardson, DVM
What’s Your Diagnosis?  Wayne E. Wingfield, MS, DVM
7th IVECCS 2000 ORLANDO-Program Guide
ORGANIZATION NEWS

All articles are copyrighted by VECCS. Publication is included in theUnited States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Library.

Dr. John Anderson of Simi Valley, CA, past president of AAVDM, was recently honored by the Redondo Beach Police Department at the 14th Annual Redondo Beach Police K9 Trials on May 13, 2000. This year’s Trials were dedicated to Dr. Anderson in recognition of over ten years of veterinary care that he has provided to their police dogs and to the many hours he has invested in training canine handlers in emergency first aid for working canines all over the country. submitted by Dr. Lorna Lanman

Martha Grace Claire Howl (aka "Grace") was born May 28, 2000.

Dr. Lorna Lanman reports that college credit is available for success- fully completed FEMA Independent Study Courses.

(The courses are free from FEMA, the tuition/credit charge is $60—through Frederick Community College.) The courses, and application for college credit, can be processed through FEMA.

Eighteen independent study courses are currently available through the independent study program. Among these are both modules of Animals in Disaster (IS-10 and IS-11), An Orientation to Hazardous Materials for Medical Personnel (IS-346), and The Professional in Emergency Program Management (IS-513). Please access

Dr. Sebastian Heath reports that he has updated this website, and

invites everyone to look at the proposed outline for the course on

livestock and disasters. The outline is based on the meeting held

April 3 and 4, 2000 at the Emergency Management Institute in

Emmitsburg, MD.

CDC and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health will cosponsor a course "International Course in Applied Epidemiology". This basic course in epidemiology is directed at public health professionals from countries other than the United States.

October 2-27, 2000

Atlanta, GA

There are prerequisites and there is a tuition charge. For more

information, please contact:

Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health

International Health Department (PIA)

1518 Clifton Road NE, Room 746

Atlanta, GA 30322

Telephone: 404-727-3485

FAX: 404-727-4590

E-mail: pvaleri@sph.emory.edu

submitted by Dr. Joanne Howl

INTERNATIONAL NORTHWESTERN CONFERENCES IN NATURE COMMUNICABLE TO MAN (INCDNCM)—55th

Annual Meeting

Dates: July 30-August 2, 2000

Venue: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Program Scope:

Viral, Rickettsial, Bacterial, Parasitic or Prion-related Diseases acquired from natural sources, including animals (wild or domestic), contaminated water or food supplies, arthopod vectors, and other sources.

For more information and abstract submission contact:

Dr. Kenneth L. Gage, Dr. Michael Kosoy

Post Office Box 2087

Fort Collins, CO 80522

Telephone: 970-221-6450 or 970-221-6404

FAX: 970-221-6476

E-mail klg0@cdc.gov or mck3@cdc.gov

Errol Prasad

President, INCDNCM

Microbiology & Public Health Laboratory

University of Alberta Hospital

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2J2

Telephone: 780-407-8975

FAX: 780-407-8961

E-mail: esp@bugs.uah.ualberta.ca

submitted by Dr. Joanne Howl

July 5-August 25, 2000 (eight weeks)

Contact: Yandong Qiang, Program Coordinator

The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene+Public Health

615 N. Wolfe Street—Room 3501

Baltimore, MD 21205

Telephone: 410-614-3959

FAX: 410-614-6060

Course is designed to provide training in tropical medicine and

related health issues, and is meant to prepare participants for

working with current and emerging health problems in developing

countries and health problems of travelers.

submitted by Dr. Joanne Howl

by Cindy Lovern, DVM, MS

The National Animal Disaster Conference was held March 22-24, 2000 in Orlando, Florida. People from 34 states and three countries came together to discuss the details concerning animals in disasters and how to make the situation better for both people and animals.

Subjects that were covered included: FEMA animals in disaster training, Incident Command System training, development of animal response teams, public health issues, wildlife concerns, large animal concerns, dealing with the media, pet friendly sheltering, the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT), pet first aid, and lessons learned from Hurricane Floyd and other disasters.

Two VMAT Team Leaders, Dr. Barry Kellogg (VMAT-1) and Dr. James Hamilton (VMAT-3) presented a 1 ½ hour session about the VMATs, the VMAT deployments, and other related veterinary topics encountered during disasters.

Mr. Michael Dunn, Under Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, addressed the conference attendees the evening of March 22, 2000. He expressed his continued interest in expanding the scope of concern of the USDA to include companion animals in addition to large animals/livestock in disasters.

Mr. Dunn requested that he be told what the new committee and the conference attendees would like from the USDA.

The committee, and conference attendees, are asking for USDA support of the formation of a new Emergency Support Function to be added to the Federal Response Plan. The new ESF would be ESF #13 named something similar to Animal Care and Protection.

In addition, conference attendees would like to see USDA-generated press releases during disasters that communicate the message "take your pets with you", funding available at the state level for animal disaster planning and implementation, a bi-annual National Animal Disaster Conference, standard animal care forms for use by all animal response groups during a disaster (the National Animal Disaster Committee is working on that task), a primary website for disaster information during a disaster, and a National Animal Disaster Week to be approved by each state’s Governor.

The Conference was a complete success. The attendees were able to learn from the past experiences of others, and obtainable goals were set for substantial forward movement in the area of animal disaster planning and response. Much work remains, but with clear objectives set, the attendees left with a feeling of accomplishment and a clear vision of what must be accomplished in the future to obtain a complete animal disaster response.

by Lorna Lanman, DVM

Las Vegas was the site of the annual convention of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) held April 29-May 3, 2000, and a number of AAVDM members were in attendance. The National Disaster Medical System is comprised of the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The NDMS mission is to help provide medical treatment for large numbers of casualties involved in a major domestic disaster. Because of this critical mission, all of us involved in public health and medical services need to keep ourselves trained and prepared. Many of the nation’s leaders in the field of emergency management and emergency response were at this conference.

Key topics such as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), disaster team response responsibilities, clinical medicine, mental health, and coordination of international disaster response were addressed by more than 145 expert speakers from local, state and federal government agencies—as well as from volunteer, private sector and academic entities.

The conference delivered an understanding of the health and medical requirements generated by disasters of any origin, and provided access to authorities responsible for managing these requirements. Attendees engaged in continuing education, training, research, and information sharing to enable our further development of this nation’s lifesaving systems.

In attendance were physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, pharmacists, infectious disease experts, veterinarians, emergency medical services personnel, morticians, sanitarians, dentists, health care administrators, emergency managers, and response team personnel.

This year, we—as AAVDM members and Veterinary Medical Assistance Team members who attended—were particularly pleased as we performed a significant role in the conference. AAVDM and VMAT officers presented lectures on The Human Animal Bond, Special Challenges Large Animals Pose in Disasters, Infection Hazards of Human and Animal Remains, VMAT and Other Animal Care Disaster Resources, and Hazard and Disease Surveillance: How Veterinary Participation Can Save Lives.

Much of our team training and preparedness comes from attending

Also, we were especially gratified to participate in the first organized

VMAT team meeting with Dr. Robert Knouss, Director of NDMS/Office of Emergency Preparedness; Mr. Gary Moore, Deputy Director and Chief of Field Operations; Captain William, Tyler, Chief, Response Branch; Dr. William Piggott, Chief Medical Officer; and many others from the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Dr. Knouss welcomed us to the meeting and complimented the VMAT on a job well done in North Carolina following Hurricane Floyd. A number of important agenda items were discussed concerning the deployment of the veterinary disaster response teams in the future.

This conference was approved for 18 hours of continuing education

May 8, 2000--Reuters reports that the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory was closed down, and 500 homes in the surrounding area were evacuated. (More were later evacuated)

May 12, 2000--BHGazette reports that the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society took in over 400 animals, with more coming in.

May 12, 2000--BHGazette reports that Animal Protection of New Mexico has compiled an extensive list of foster homes.

from EMPRES-Livestock@fao.org (public domain-UN)

Reports are growing of renewed drought in Eastern Africa particularly affecting areas of southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia and eastern Kenya. Once again the livelihoods of the pastoral communities will be affected and their livestock, on which they are heavily dependent, could be at risk from a resurgence of epidemic diseases.

Particular concern at this time relates to rinderpest given that the rinderpest status of the southern Somali ecosystem is largely undefined. In the past, droughts in eastern Africa seem to have been the precipitating factor in causing rinderpest to flare-up in stressed populations of cattle and wildlife.

After this episode coordinated interventions by the governments of Kenya and Tanzania succeeded in reversing the spread of rinderpest to the point where declarations of provisional freedom from rinderpest were possible for the whole of Tanzania and a large zone of Kenya. If a recapitualtion of the earlier events is occurring now, or does so in the near future, it will be a severe test of Kenya's defences which include maintenance of a vaccinated buffer zone in the east of the country. The need for vigilance in this highly vulnerable area is of paramount importance and merits support.

May 23, 2000—3000 dead seals were victims of an unknown epidemic. Remains were studied by biologists from Kazakhstan, Russia and Britain.

June 12, 2000—An official at the Kazakhstan Ministry for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources revealed that the deaths were caused by a pasteurellosis epidemic. A decline in the animals’ immunity was due to agricultural pesticides and petroleum toxins.

original article submitted by Dr. Joanne Howl

The Importance of a Thorough and Organized Search and Rescue Effort Following a Disaster--by Dick Green, EdD

Animal Planet Rescue recently responded to Camille, Georgia to assist the rescue and recovery efforts resulting from the February 14^th tornadoes. At the time this article was written, there were 21 fatalities, $2.4M lost in agricultural buildings, $1.4M in poultry losses with 280,000 poultry deaths and 3 poultry farms completely destroyed. Our teams began arriving in Georgia within 12 hours and our rescue rig was staged in Mitchell County the day after the storm. Animal control agencies and volunteer groups visited the sites at first light and a number of animals were treated and transported to Mitchell County Animal Shelter. It was the opinion of a number of groups including the county Emergency Operations Center, Georgia state patrolmen that were assigned security for that area and the county sheriff’s department that there were no more animals in the affected zone.

A Georgia State patrolman remarked, as we arrived at the scene, that we were wasting our time, and his, and only impeding the "cleaning up" process by conducting another search in that area. 36 hours after the tornado and following numerous searches through the area by a number of different groups, we led 25 volunteers with representatives from four surrounding county animal control agencies, volunteers from Florida, a member from IFAW, and 2 volunteers from HSUS - Florida into the area to conduct a thorough search.

The search area was divided into three sectors of approximately equal size. One strike team of 7-8 rescuers with a strike team leader was assigned to each sector. Strike team leaders were easily identifiable to their teams by their white helmets, easily heard by their whistles and in constant communication with command via hand-held radios. A veterinarian accompanied each team to perform triage onsite.

A command post was established out of the mainstream traffic yet in a centrally located spot. Typical of tornadoes, street signs and house numericals were most often gone; in fact, in some areas, blocks were completely wiped out. The teams were assigned the task to systematically and thoroughly assess and survey the affected areas without "digging" in the rubble or walking into or near still-standing structures.

As a sector or street was searched, the area was flagged and the team would move on. All dead animals were also flagged and notation of site, disposition, description and time were made by the team leaders as well as calling in the information to command. Within two hours, 10 dogs and three cats were rescued in that area and numerous sightings of additional animals made.

The need for a thorough search in devastated area is painfully clear and the rewards yielded will improve linearly as additional organization, leadership and communication skills are utilized. Safety officers need to be assigned to each team and only animal control officers with specific training in confined spaces should be allowed in the "rubble zone".

Dr. Green is the Emergency Animal Relief Manager for the American Humane Association. He can be contacted at green@gu@spokes.com Please contact author for permission to duplicate.