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Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is announcing the issuance of nine warning letters to manufacturers and distributors of unapproved and misbranded antimicrobial animal drugs for violations of federal law. The agency is concerned because these products contain antimicrobials that are important in human medicine and using them without medical oversight contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance.
2024 Annual IAAAM Conference
Galway, Ireland
May 19-23, 2024
Your IAAAM Board and our conference planning team have been hard at work this summer! I am pleased to announce that some details of the IAAAM 2024 conference have been confirmed!
The next IAAAM will be meeting in Galway, Ireland from May 19 – 23, 2024! Mark your calendars now and save the date! The meeting will be a hybrid meeting, with both in-person and remote attendance options.
Galway is a thriving and cultural city, and it boasts a beautiful promenade, a labyrinth of cobbled streets and colorful shop facades, and importantly, a strong pub culture! Galway is also home to many festivals, museums, historical sites, and many of Ireland’s attractions, including its national aquarium, the Galway Atlantaquaria! More details will be forthcoming!
Allison D. Tuttle, DVM, Diplomate ACZM
Dr. Marshall H. “Spike” Beleau (DVM, Texas A&M ’67), 80, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, died December 23, 2022. Following veterinary school, he served 11 years in the U.S. Air Force. Initially, he served as area veterinarian at the USAF Hospital in Tachikawa, Japan, then as base veterinarian at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He then returned to Texas A&M for a masters degree in aquatic animal medicine from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He spent the last six years of his military service working as a research veterinarian in the Marine Mammal Program of the U.S. Navy at the Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego, California. Along with medical care of Navy owned marine animals, he was responsible for formulating, conducting, and managing research projects directed toward improving and expanding the capabilities of Navy owned marine animals as working animals and biosensory systems.
Following his military service, Dr. Beleau worked as a research scientist and professor in the Department of Fishery Resources of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and then in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at the Delta Branch Experiment Station in Stoneville, Mississippi. He designed and conducted research in aquatic animal health management, aquaculture, infectious and non-infectious diseases of fish, physiology, and aquatic toxicology. He also performed fish health diagnostic procedures for the public and taught both graduate and undergraduate courses. At Mississippi State University, he established an aquatic animal health program integrating College of Veterinary Medicine resources and personnel with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service aquaculture program. There, his research and development efforts included methods of cost effective diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and control of fish diseases as well as safety and efficacy testing of new drugs and biologics for use with food fish.
He finished his veterinary career researching and developing products for animal health with Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, Illinois, particularly anti-infective therapeutics for worldwide aquaculture markets and veterinary anesthesia products. Dr. Beleau achieved global recognition in the fields of marine animal health and aquaculture, authoring numerous scientific publications and serving on many professional boards and committees. He was a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and certified as a Fish Pathologist by the American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section. He was a Life Member of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine and an IAAAM Board Member from 1992 to 1994.
Retirement allowed Dr. Beleau to pursue his many interests, which included bicycle touring, motorcycling, hiking, camping, travel, scubadiving, snorkeling, fishing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, cross country skiing, tree climbing, woodcarving, pickleball, hot air ballooning, petsitting, watching movies, spending time with friends, and background acting in movies and television shows. He rode his bicycle self-supported across the U.S. from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida, and from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. He was always up for adventure and well-liked in any setting.
Dr. Beleau is survived by his wife Dr. Marilyn Chimes (DVM, Michigan State ’79), two sons, three grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.
(Provided by Dr. Marilyn Chimes)
Written by Dr. Greg Lewbart
We share the heartbreaking news that Dr. Don Abt passed away on Wednesday 27 July. Many IAAAM members owe much, if not their entire career to Don, and few would argue about his deep and lasting impact on aquatic animal medicine. A native New Englander, Don obtained a BS in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts and is a 1961 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. For 3 years, he taught anatomy at Penn and worked on bovine lymphosarcoma. After doing graduate work in biostatistics and epidemiology,
Don taught both of these subjects to Penn veterinary students before becoming the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs where he was instrumental in implementing the novel core-elective curriculum. For the next 19 years, Don continued to teach and serve in the Associate Dean’s role. In the fall of 1989, Don and his loving wife Sandy moved to Falmouth, MA (his adopted hometown) and he became the Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Don served in this role until 1999. Certainly, all of this would make for a full academic career and then some. But Don had another job, and for many reading this posting, a most important one. Don was the founding Director of the AQUAVET® program that began in 1976 and has helped train many of the current and future leaders in our field. Don held the role of AQUAVET® Director for 25 years and officially retired in 2001 as Professor Emeritus of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Pathology. But retirement didn’t slow Don down. He continued teaching in the AQUAVET® program and having a positive and lasting impact on the hundreds of students that were lucky enough to learn from and spend time with him (especially at the famous end-of-course clambakes he hosted every year!). Don was also an IAAAM President, a lifetime IAAAM member, and the first recipient of the William Medway Award for Teaching Excellence. Don leaves a strong and lasting legacy and was so proud of everyone in our field and how far aquatic animal medicine has come.
Rest in Peace, Dr. Abt.
Don is survived by his wife Sandy, son David and wife Debby, daughter Debbie (also a veterinarian) and husband Bill.
IAAAM joins NMMF and the entire marine mammal medicine community in honoring the distinguished life and career of our founding President, Dr Sam Ridgway.
Please see the link below for information regarding a memorial service as well as how to support the NMMF Ridgway Fund in his memory.
Rest easy Dr Ridgway.
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The Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association regretfully reports the unexpected passing of Dr. Lei Sachiko Yamasaki, D.V.M., M.S. on May 8, 2021.
Lei was born and raised in Honolulu, HI, graduated from Roosevelt High School, and earned a B.A. in Zoology (with a Marine Options Program Certificate) at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. She completed an M.S. degree in Animal Sciences also at UHM, and she received her DVM from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, CA. During her years as a student, she participated in many programs that led to cherished friendships and future collaborations, including Hanauma Bay, Oceanic Institute, HDOA Aquaculture Development Program, AquaVet I/II, Los Angeles Zoo, University of Arizona Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory, USGS Honolulu Field Station, USDA APHIS/Veterinary Services, and the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory.
Following graduation, she returned to Hawaii to work at Moana Technologies, LLC and in 2012 joined the Hawaii Department of Agriculture as the Aquaculture Veterinary Medical Officer. At HDOA, she supervised the Hawaii Shrimp Health Certification Program and provided dedicated diagnostic and regulatory services to support the aquaculture industry that she loved. She worked on projects relating to the presence of Nile tilapia and Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis in Hawaii and molecular and histologic diagnostics for fish/shrimp/oyster pathogens. She supported education and aquaculture in the community as a Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair judge, Technical Committee member for the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, Advisory Subcommittee member on invertebrate and aquatic biota for the State of Hawaii, and many other events with endless energy and a smile that lit up every room.
Lei was a lifelong scholar and never tired of pursuing new projects or learning new things. Yet she still managed to carve time out to enjoy the natural beauty of the world through her hobbies of surfing, hiking, fishing, traveling, conservation, and animal rescue. She was a dedicated and respected veterinarian whose love of animals was evident in the menagerie of animals that she cared for over the years: her beloved Simon, Emma, Mao, Copper, Atsila, and many others.
Lei will be forever remembered and missed by her family (parents Michael and Joann, sister Ann), friends, and colleagues from around the world.
Dr. Gratzek ( Minnesota,'56), 89, Athens, Georgia, died November 22, 2020. A diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists, he was professor emeritus and department head in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine from 1966 until retirement in 1993.
Following graduation, Dr. Gratzek attended The University of Wisconsin where he completed his masters (1959) and Ph.D. (1961). He launched his academic career at Iowa State University. In 1966, he moved to Athens, Georgia where he worked closely with the aquarium and catfish industries to investigate fish diseases and husbandry problems. He helped to integrate the study of fish diseases into veterinary medicine by coordinating workshops and presenting seminars internationally. He authored or co-authored nearly a hundred publications, articles, abstracts, and books primarily focused on fish diseases and husbandry. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership by the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine for his contributions.
He is survived by his wife Kathleen, two sons, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. His daughter, Dr. Ann Gratzek, is a veterinary ophthalmologist in California, and his daughter-in-law, Dr. Megan Gratzek is a general practitioner in Minnesota.
Memorials may be made to the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, 501 DW Brooks Drive, Athens, GA 30602
The first issue of the FDA Office of Minor Use & Minor Species Animal Drug Development Newsletter is now available on the FDA website at https://www.fda.gov/media/143500/download. Please feel free to share this and also to send us any feedback you may have. Thank you so much and please stay safe,
Meg Oeller, DVM
FDA/CVM/HFV-50
Office of Minor Use & Minor Species
Animal Drug Development