News from the FAZD Center

USDA-NIFA honors Vestal with 2009 Partnership Award

The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) presented a FAZD Center principal investigator, Dr. Andy Vestal, with its 2009 Partnership Award for Effective and Efficient Use of Resources.

He received the award during the annual meeting of the USDA's National Extension Disaster Education Network annual meeting (EDEN) in Indianapolis on Oct. 6-9.

During 2008-09, Vestal chaired the Professional Development Committee on the Executive Committee of the USDA's National Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN), with oversight responsibilities for NIFA funds supporting educational research and Extension outreach. NIFA is the former Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CREES).  

NIFA provided partial funding for the FAZD Center's Animal Health Network, a system designed to dramatically decrease the time required for a disease outbreak alert to reach non-commercial producers of livestock and poultry. Vestal is principal investigator for the Animal Health Network, which has has been well received nationally, with adoption in several states – most recently in the state of Michigan.

The Animal Health Network has the potential to reach over 2 million non-commercial livestock and poultry operators through a network of 50 state veterinarians, 2,700 extension educators, and 6,700 feed retailers.

Cardona makes news with study: 'Preexisting Immunity to Pandemic (H1N1) 2009'

Dr. Carol Cardona, a FAZD Center prinicpal investigator, is making national news with a recent study that previous infections of seasonal flu may protect older people from the current H1N1 human flu.

Stories about Cardona's study, which was funded in part by the FAZD Center, have been distributed on the Reuters News Service and have appeared on the web sites Science Daily, Physorg.com and DVM360.

The study appears in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Cardona says the human population may already have some immunity to the pandemic H1N1 influenza, thanks to previous outbreaks of seasonal flu. This immunity may weaken the H1N1 virus, which may explain my symptoms have thus far proven generally mild.

Cardona is a veterinarian and Cooperative Extension specialist with the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Her co-author, Zheng Xing, is a project scientist with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Sandrock co-hosts 4-part HCTV series on best practices for disaster preparedness

A principal investigator from the FAZD Center serves as co-host for a four-part video series that will premiere on University of California Television in October.

“Disaster Preparedness for Health Professionals” highlights best practices for preparedness as determined by disaster response experts from throughout California.

Dr. Christian Sandrock, professor in critical care medicine and infectious diseases at UC Davis Medical Center, serves as the program's co-host. Among his guests is another FAZD Center principal investigator, Dr. Carol Cardona, poultry veterinarian and associate professor with UC Davis Cooperative Extension.

The program is designed to illustrate how anyone – from an individual to an organization – can be better prepared for a future emergency.

Each installment covers a different topic, including Natural Disasters, Chemical and Biological Agents, Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Infections, and Disaster Volunteerism. The programs use expert interviews, case studies, archival footage, and conversations with experienced emergency responders to apply lessons learned from past disasters to likely future events like wildfires, the H1N1 virus, or terrorist attack.

The series premieres on UCTV Monday, Oct, 5 at 8 p.m (EDT and PDT) and online at www.uctv.tv/disaster.

Two-day workshop about media relations draws 30 participants in Pennsylvania

More than 30 participants learned proven techniques for dealing with news media during a two-day workship co-sponsored by the FAZD Center.

The workshop, "Media Relations Made Easy," took place in early September at Camp Hill, Pa. It was hosted by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and Cooperative Extension.

Participants learned how to handle calls from news reporters, how to establish relationships with journalists, how to write news releases, how to handle TV and radio interviews, how to contain a crisis, and how to handle controversial issues.

"Media Relations Made Easy" is designed as a train-the-trainers program, with the goal of empowering participants to provide training withing their organizations. Each regristrant took home a jump drive containing all of the Power Points and other key documents from the workshops, as well as teaching outlines and suggestions for training sessions.

Among the organizations participating were the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Penn State University, the Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research, Northumberland County Emergency Management Agency, Harrisburg International Airport, the South Central Pennsylvania Task Force, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Pennsylvania, the South Central Pennsylvania Task Force, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind and the Cumberland County Department Of Public Safety.

Director Clarke to make presentations during annual USAHA/AAVLD meeting in San Diego

The director of the FAZD Center, Dr. Neville P. Clarke, will make presentations during the 2009 joint meeting of the United States Animal Health Association and the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

The event is set for Oct. 8-14 in San Diego.

Clarke's presentations will feature updates on the FAZD Center's leading products from its themes of Biological Systems, Information Analysis Systems and Education and Outreach. He will address the USAHA's Committee on Animal Health and Emergency Management on Oct. 9, Committee on Diagnostic Laboratory and Veterinary Workforce Development on Oct. 12, and USAHA Foreign and Emerging Diseases Committee and Oct. 13.