USAHA meets jointly with the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) each year, making it the premier forum for animal health, disease regulation policy and veterinary laboratory infrastructure discussion in the United States.

"USAHA is at the forefront of a number of livestock, poultry and wildlife disease issues," says USAHA President Steve Halstead who is the Michigan State Veterinarian. "At a time when animal health officials are dealing with dwindling resources and there is increased attention on zoonotic diseases and safe food supply, the work of USAHA continues to become more critical."

USAHA and AAVLD will feature a joint plenary session entitled 'Evolving Food Systems for Global Food Security: Can Animal Production and Veterinary Infrastructure Keep Up?' The session will focus on the critical roles that state and federal animal health officials, private practitioners, laboratory and university scientists, and new technology play in food animal production and securing the availability of food for an expanding domestic and world population.

Dr David Marshall, USAHA programme chair and North Carolina State Veterinarian, said: "We often hear a broad range of conversations about how animal protein will increase in demand and contribute to feeding a growing global population. A very important component of this is the regulatory, surveillance and diagnostic infrastructure – and it is necessary to address the changing food production landscape to ensure that infrastructure is positioned to effectively protect and serve the needs of the US, both domestically and internationally."

The session will be held on 3 October at 08:00.

The meeting also features a number of other high-interest topics in animal health. AAVLD will host a plenary session focusing specifically on tuberculosis, scheduled for 1 October 1 at 08:00. It is entitled 'Bovine Tuberculosis: Here Today, Here Tomorrow?'

Dr Tim Baszler, AAVLD programme chair and director of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University, added: "The US has made great strides in addressing tuberculosis, however we continue to see challenges and evolving science with the disease. We felt it very timely to focus on some of the latest information around the world and new technologies that can assist us in addressing those challenges."

USAHA anticipates excellent programmes from each of its 30 committees that hold sessions during the meeting, ranging from key disease and species specific based committees to broad impact issue-based committees such as Food and Feed Safety, and Foreign and Emerging Diseases. USAHA will also feature a special session on rabies on 5 October.

Mr Halstead added: "There is no shortage of information, topics and productive discussion at the USAHA/AAVLD Annual Meeting. The scientific information, Resolutions and networking opportunities at this meeting are the culmination of the work our members do year-round."

For more information on this meeting, click here.