Dear All,
Attached is a brief note from Dr. Don Stremme who is a CPAC committee member representing zoos and wildlife. Since many of us (most of us, most likely) don’t know much or anything about this so he has written up a brief summary of what it is all about and how it may affect you. Please read the attached and see how it may affect you and your career.
Regards,
Michael B Briggs, DVM, MS
President/International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine
Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Jeanette Ridgway, beloved wife of Sam Ridgway for almost 60 years passed away last week. Jeanette loved all the members that makeup IAAAM and attended meetings with Sam whenever she could. She gratefully shared the IAAAM Lifetime Achievement Award with Sam in Long Beach a couple of years ago.
Please take a moment to send Sam an email (sam.ridgway@nmmpfoundation.org) and let him know how much he and Jeanette mean to each of us!
Sincerely,
The IAAAM Board
This year, there were five recipients of the 2020 Student Travel Awards:
Erica Chang - Veterinary Student, University of California Davis, “Genetic and Virulence Diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae Recovered from Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)”
Molly Martony – Aquatic Animal Medicine Resident, University of Florida, “Establishing Ultrasonographic Criteria for Metastasis in the Superficial Cervical Lymph Nodes of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with Squamous Cell Carcinoma”
Zachary Ready – Veterinary Student, Purdue University, “Total Ear Canal Ablation and Lateral Bulla Osteotomy (TECA-LBO) for Successful Surgical Management of Otitis Media in Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)”
Michelle Rivard – Aquatic Animal Medicine Intern, Mystic Aquarium, “Investigation of Prevalence, Predisposing Factors and Clinical Presentation of Megaesophagus in Stranded Phocids”
Izzet Saticioğlu (International awardee) – Post-doctoral Fellow, Erciyes University, “Identification and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of the Possible Novel Flavobacterium Species Isolated from Farmed Trout”
Congratulations to each of these students!
The Student Liaison Committee was highly impressed with the quality of student research that is underway, and we are all looking forward to the student award competition at the upcoming meeting in Tampa, FL.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share that Greg Bossart lost his courageous battle with pancreatic cancer on November 19, 2019. Greg was a world-renowned and respected veterinarian, pathologist and conservationist whose passions included marine conservation, ocean science, and the role of aquatic species as sentinels for the effects of climate change, ecosystem and human health. Most recently, Greg was the Senior Vice President and Chief Veterinary Officer at the Georgia Aquarium. He also led the Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) research projects on bottlenose dolphins. His commitment to veterinary medicine spans over three decades during which time he helped characterize the first viral disease in manatees, developed the first immunohistochemical technique for diagnosing brevetoxicosis in marine mammals and birds, and documented resurging and emerging diseases in manatees, cetacean, and birds.
He received his VMD from the University of Pennsylvania and was a comparative pathology resident and National Institute of Health fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in immunology at Florida International University and was an Honorary Member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine (Wildlife Population Health). He was a professor or faculty member as multiple medical and veterinary schools and published nearly 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters focusing primarily on the pathologic basis of disease in wild animals. His awards are too numerous to even begin to list; however, just this year, he was awarded Life Member status and received The William Medway Award for Excellence in Teaching from IAAAM.
He touched the lives of every member of IAAAM whether we knew him personally or knew of him; whether we learned directly from him or from one of his students; or whether we worked with him or utilized his knowledge via publications or presentations. We will benefit from his compassion for animals and people and his achievements in the field of aquatic animal health, pathology and conservation forever. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and with the staff of Georgia Aquarium.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to one of three causes that are close to their hearts:
Georgia Aquarium Research and Conservation Program www.georgiaaquarium.org/donations
Christian Veterinary Mission www.cvm.org
Medical Missions Ministries – Guatemala www.mmm-guatemala.com
In 2018, the IAAAM Board voted to create a Lifetime Achievement Award for Aquatic Animal Medicine and to name this award for the inaugral receipient, Sam Ridgway. IAAAM want to acknowledge Dr. Ridgway's hard work and dedication which was instrumental in developing the field of aquatic animal medicine.
Aquatic Mammals Journal video of Dr. Ridgway discussing the history of his work with marine mammals.
With personal privacy in the news worldwide, the IAAAM has changed and posted it's privacy policies at http://www.iaaam.org/privacy/. We have also given you more options to control the personal information IAAAM collects and stores about you. If you have any questions, please feel free to read the privacy policies and contact webmaster@iaaam.org.
Puerto de la Cruz, April 17th, 2018. Udra is the name of the female zebra shark that became the first specimen of this species born in an aquarium in Spain. The team of the Loro Parque’s aquarium, whose efforts have enabled this breeding success, is very proud to confirm that the animal has completed the required quarantine period, during which it was receiving all the necessary care and attention. Now it is enjoying its new, spacious home in the mangrove of Aqua Viva. It also means that the guests of the park have a unique opportunity of seeing it, for the first time, in this exhibition of the park, which was recognized by Trip Advisor in 2017 as the best zoo in the world.
Since its birth, Udra has been participating in unique shark training program developed by the experts of the Loro Parque’s aquarium. Thanks to this training, such important procedure as voluntarily blood extraction was made possible. Moreover, through this training, it has become accustomed to regular voluntary veterinary check-ups, which not only allow the aquarium team to ensure its maximum well-being but also provide researchers and scientists with valuable information about this species. From now on, the visitors of the park will be able to observe the training sessions with Udra.
Udra is an offspring of two other zebra sharks of the park, Marylin and Elvis, who, since then, have had more young ones. Nevertheless, Udra has a special meaning for the aquarium’s team, because it was the first specimen of this species to be born under their care, converting the aquarium into the first among the aquariums of Spain to have bred this species. The young shark has been progressing steadily since her birth in October 2016. Weighing originally only 0.072 kg, it is now at 0.390 kg, and it has grown from the original 27.3 cm to 118 cm.
What is curious about these animals is that they received their common name, zebra shark, due to their appearance at birth. While they are young, they display while stripes over darker bodies, hence the name. The appearance changes as they grow, and by the time they become adults, the stripes will have evolved into black spots. These sharks are slow but elusive swimmers; they do not chase their prey, but rather corner it using their large flexible body to prevent it from escaping.
Breeding and reproduction work carried out at Loro Parque is essential to provide scientists with the vital and much-needed information about the conservation of not only of this particular species but also of other, much more threatened species. Thus, Loro Parque Foundation, with the support of its primary sponsor, Loro Parque, among many others, has been successfully conducting marine wildlife conservation and protection projects. Among them, are the projects with such species as the angelfish (Squatima squatima), considered to be the most endangered shark in the world, and the hammerhead shark (Sphyrna sp.), a species that finds itself under a lot of pressure primarily due to aggressive fishing techniques and other adverse conditions.
This birth is considered a true success story as breeding of this delicate species represents quite a challenge
The penguin colony at Loro Parque has recently welcomed a new family member as a Chinstrap penguin chick was born in PlanetPenguin. This birth is considered a real success as it is a very delicate penguin species, which poses quite a challenge in its breeding.
The chick was born weighing 88 grams and spent its first days in a hatcher of BabyPenguin where it was hand-reared. At this time, the penguin chick received 10% of its weight in blended fish, as well vitamins and calcium. During its first month and a half, the chick receives this formula five times a day every three hours; then this frequency is reduced to two meals a day, after which the young penguin starts eating solid food.
Presently, the chinstrap penguin chick weighs 736 grams and has already started the integration process by adapting to its new environment until it is fully integrated with the rest of the penguins at Loro Parque.
Chinstrap penguins inhabit the shore waters of the Antarctic Ocean; they are a medium size (46-61 centimeters) and weigh between 5 and 8 kilos. They are able to dive up to 70 meters deep, and their diet is mainly based on Antarctic krill, although they can also eat fish and other crustaceans whenever these are available.
This new addition to the penguin colony, along with four other rockhopper penguin chicks, promises yet another successful year at the penguinarium of Loro Parque. The birth of new chicks is, above all, a good indicator of adequate animal welfare as it demonstrates that all the necessities of the animals are effectively and properly covered, and they can reproduce normally.
Loro Parque considers every single detail when it comes to animal care. In PlanetPinguin not only that their natural habitat is recreated, with 12 tons of snow generated daily, but also the Antarctic light cycles are respected all throughout the year. Presently, the penguin family at Loro Parque is enjoying the polar summer with plenty of light and longer days than in winter.
Jay D. Hyman, DVM, passed away August 1, 2017. He was a beloved son, father, brother, husband and generous philanthropist. He endowed a chair for Wildlife Health at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, supported and helped curate exhibits at Cornell's Johnson Museum of Art. He was a founding member of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine and the major initial donor for the IAAAM Medway Award. He supported the Touch the Jungle/Earthways Foundation, and the Cornell Esbaran Field Laboratory. He founded the Society for the Advancement of Latin American Arts and supported the Palm Beach Zoo as well as many other charities. He was a member of the Explorers Club. He showed us all how to conquer adversity. He will be remembered for his courage, dedication, adventurous spirit and love of life.
IN MEMORIAM
Professor Emeritus, Medical Microbiology and Immunology,
University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health
Vedros Biosciences Laboratories
Dr. Neylan Vedros, a long-time member of the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, a world-renown microbiologist, and a dear friend and colleague passed away in Healdsburg, CA in late June 2017 at the age of 87.
Born in the bayous of Louisiana, Neylan was the epitome of grace and class. He had an intellectual curiosity that infused his collaborative and diverse scientific research. His earliest research in the 1970s, while stationed at the Naval Bioscience Laboratory in Oakland, CA, focused on meningococcal disease in humans and established a Neisseria Reference Center for the World Health Organization.
During the 1970s, he also became enamored with marine mammals and the marine environment, publishing manuscripts on San Miguel sea lion virus and leptospirosis in pinnipeds, as well as examining antiviral substances in California marine algae, and calicivirus (SMSV-5) infections in opaleye fish.
He expanded his marine mammal work in the 1980s and 1990s, working with Ocean Park in Hong Kong and DolphinQuest in Hawaii, developing quantitative assays for determination of immune system health in bottlenose dolphins, as well as investigating pharmacokinetics in healthy bottlenose dolphins, and designing a polysaccharide vaccine against Pasteurella multocida for sea lions, fur seals, and dolphins.
After his retirement from UCB in 1991, he founded Vedros Biosciences Laboratories, where he created and marketed topical demulcents for use on viral and inflammatory skin diseases, in particular, topical dermatological products, such as medicated shampoos, and skin and hair lotions for use on domestic animals, reptiles, birds, and horses.
I met Neylan nearly 40 years ago when I tracked him down at UCB to ask him questions and work in his lab (gratis) investigating leptospirosis in California sea lions. Our first meeting initiated a long-term friendship and collaboration with him, his family, and his laboratory. I was honored to housesit his dog, fish, and birds at his Alameda, CA water-front home, when he and his wonderful wife Beryl, were away on travel. My husband and I saw both Neylan and Beryl at their home in Healdsburg, CA in summer 2015, and were happy to see he retained his jovial humor and his pipe-smoking professorial demeanor!
He was a member of the American Society of Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine, where he served as IAAAM President from 1985-1986.
His creative wit, his humor, and his collaborative spirit will be sorely missed.
Leslie A Dierauf, VM
