To watch this online workshop, please follow the following link:
https://event.webinarjam.com/t/click/m2yy0u8wuynbnmhyr4h6myuvz2u4
24Aug/20
24Nov/19
Congress 2019
The Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine hosted its 17th Annual SASVEPM Congress at the Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga Kwazulu-Natal during 21-23 August 2019. We achieved record attendance this year with just over 300 delegates attending!
As part of our 2019 programme we also be hosted a pre-congress training workshop in partnership with the South African Field Epidemiology Training Programme (SAFETP) and the University of Pretoria during 19-20 August 2019. The course was designed to provide veterinarians and para-veterinarians with basic epidemiological skills and an inter-disciplinary approach to deal with complex animal health and public health issues.
Thank you to our key note speaker, Dr Sascha al Dahouk (a global expert on human brucellosis and an epidemiologist), as well as all our presenting authors, for contributing to the success of the 2019 congress.
Congratulations to the winners of the Willie Ungerer Memorial Prize for Epidemiology which was awarded to: Prof Geoff Fosgate (2018 winner) from the Faculty of Veterinary Science of Onderstepoort and Prof Cheryl McCrindle (2019 winner) from the School of Health Systems and Public Health of the University of Pretoria.
Well done to this year’s winner of the Animal Health Technician Prize for outstanding work which was awarded to Odirele T.L. Ramafoko for his work on Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis and Trichomoniasis of Cattle in Mafikeng, North West Province.
At the congress, four new members were elected to the executive committee and we welcome Dr Mohamed Sirdar, Dr Noluvuyo Magadla, Dr Sikhumbuzo Mbizeni and Dr Wonderful Shumba to the committee. Please look at the committee’s page for a look at who is involved on the executive.
11Oct/18
Congress 2018
SASVEPM joined the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa to have our annual congress at Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, South Africa from 18-20 June 2018.
Thank you to our key note speakers, Prof Cheryl McCrindle and Prof Egbert Mundt, as well as all our presenting authors, for contributing to the success of the 2018 congress.
At the congress, two new members were elected to the executive committee and we welcome Dr Alicia Cloete and Dr Japhta Mokoele to the committee. Please look at the committee’s page for a look at who is involved on the executive.
Well done to this year’s winner of the Animal Health Technician Prize for outstanding work which was awarded to Deon Kriel for his role in dealing with outbreaks in the Northern Cape Province.
The proceedings can be downloaded from HERE
16Aug/17
Congress 2017
Congress 2017
SASVEPM joined the the South African Veterinary Association as well as several paraveterinary organisations to have our annual congress as part of the 9th Veterinary and Paraveterinary Congress at Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, South Africa from 25-27 July 2017.
Click HERE to download the proceedings.
Thanks to our CE speakers, Dr Mpho Maja, Dr Joule Kangumba, Dr Laura Lopez and Dr Didi Janse van Rensburg as well as all our presenting authors, the 2017 congress in Gauteng was a great success.
At the congress, a new member was elected to the executive committee and we welcome Dr Vashnee Govender to the committee.
Well done to this year’s winner of the Willie Ungerer Memorial Prize for Epidemiology which was awarded to Dr Peter Geertsma from the Gauteng Veterinary Services.
05Sep/16
Congress 2016
Download the 2016 Proceedings here
Thanks to our CE speaker, Prof Jonathan Rushton, as well as all our presenting authors, the 2016 congress in Cape Town was a great success. Please download the proceedings by clicking on the link above.
Download Prof Rushton’s presentations here:
At the congress, new members were elected to the executive committee and we welcome Dr Didi Janse van Rensburg and Dr Nelson Matekwe to the committee.
Well done to this year’s winner of the Willie Ungerer Memorial Prize for Epidemiology which was awarded to Dr Johann Kotze from the Mpumalanga Veterinary Services. In the image below Dr Kotze (Rt) receives the memorial shield from the President of the Society, Dr van Helden (Lft)
12May/16
Congress 2015
Download the 2015 Proceedings HERE
Thanks to our CE speakers, Dr Gavin Thomson, Dr Louis van Schalkwyk and Dr Peter Thompson, as well as all our presenting authors the 2015 congress in Bloemfontein was a great success. Please download the proceedings by clicking on the link above.
At the congress Dr Lesley van Helden was elected President of the executive committee and we welcome Dr Lisa Hiemstra to the committee.
Well done to this year’s winner of the Willie Ungerer Memorial Prize for Epidemiology which was awarded to Dr Grietjie de Klerk from the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. In the image below Dr de Klerk (Rt) receives the memorial shield from the new President of the Society, Dr van Helden (Lft)
12May/16
Congress 2014
12th Annual Congress
The 12th annual congress of the SASVEPM was held in Port Elizabeth between 20 and 22 August 2014. The continuing education speaker was world renowned veterinary epidemiologist Prof Dirk Pfeiffer from the UK. He gave a total of 5 presentations on the topics of: Spatial analysis in Veterinary Epidemiology, Antimicrobial resistance in animals, a systems perspective of avian influenza and then a final talk on animal health decision making in a one health context. The global perspective that he portrayed was very informative and very applicable to to attendees of the congress.
The winner of the best presentation went to Dr Darryn Knobel (below left receiving his prize from Dr Alan Kalake – SASVEPM President) from the University of Pretoria. He presented on the control of rabies in dog populations and discussed vaccination strategies in conjunction with the R0 of the disease.
It was very good to see a number of young researchers presenting their work, including some non veterinarians. In particular there was a presentation from Ms. Kemeiloe Malokotsa, a technician from ARC/OVI who is supervised by Dr Evelyn Madoroba. Kemeiloe presented on the “Virulence profiles and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Escherichia coli among diverse animal species in South Africa” Another excellent presentation was by Dr Laura Roberts, a masters student from the University of Pretoria, who presented on a very informative technique called multiple criteria decision analysis.
Dr John Grewar (below left) was awarded the annual Willie Ungerer Memorial Epidemiology Prize for 2013/14.
The congress was a sell out in terms of numbers and was our biggest congress to date with over 200 registrations. We look forward to continuing with this success when we host the next SASVEPM next year in the Free State province of South Africa.
Click on the following link to download the congress proceedings
The following links are to download the continuing education presentations kindly supplied by Prof Pfeiffer
12May/16
CE Course 2014
CE Course 2014 – Tracing the source – social network analysis and EpiContactTrace
Dr John Grewar presented a workshop hosted by SASVEPM in early May 2014. The course focussed on network analysis in veterinary systems and contact tracing during outbreak investigations. Open source software was used (Cytoscape and R/RStudio with various packages including EpiContactTrace) to present to workshop. The focus was on practical ways of evaluating networks in disease and animal systems in order to best make decisions during outbreak investigations, like which farms are most suited to surveillance or which farms present the most risk to a network of farms. The R section of the course introduced the attendees to the EpiContactTrace package which assists in trace back and forwards during disease investigations.
Ten SASVEPM members completed the 2 day workshop and hopefully the knowledge gained will be put to good field use in the epidemiology field in South Africa. SASVEPM remain focussed on improving and uplifting the use of epidemiology in the veterinary field in its region of influence.
12May/16
Congress 2013
11th Annual Congress
The 11th annual congress of the SASVEPM was a resounding success and we thank all the attendees who made it so worthwhile. It was one of our biggest congresses to date with in the region of 150 delegates!
Our continuing education speakers were superb. Dr Rebone Moerane gave excellent insights into the farm level primary animal health care that can be and is being implemented in rural areas and the impact thereof. Dr Misheck Mulumba spoke on the agricultural trade within SADC and the integration currently in place as well as on PPR’s current status in the SADC region. To download the SADC strategy on the control of PPR please click here.
Proceedings
The proceedings of the congress can be downloaded by clicking HERE.
Awards and Prizes
This year we introduced the Willie Ungerer Memorial Prize which will take the place of the yearly Epidemiology Prize. This prize is in memory of Dr Willie Ungerer who died suddenly in December 2012. He was a founding and very active member of the society. A floating trophy in the form of a shield was designed and a small trophy will be presented annually for the winner to keep. This year the prize was awarded to Mr Kevin Le Roux for his work on Rabies in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Dr Alan Kalake, the new chairperson of SASVEPM hands over the prize in the picture below.
The prize for the best presentation went to Dr Lin-Mari de Klerk-Lorist for an excellent talk on the risk of disease transmission associated with the translocation of wildlife.
General
Congratulations to Dr Lesley van Helden and Dr Charles Katsande who have been elected onto the executive committee of the society. Also congratulations to Alan Kalake who is the Chairperson for 2013/14. Please look at the committee’s page for a look at who is involved on the executive.
Constitution
The constitution of the society has been revised to comply with South African SARS requirements – please review it HERE
12May/16
Congress 2012
10th Annual SASVEPM Congress
Click here to view the 2012 Proceedings
1-3 August 2012 – Pretoria – South Africa
Our theme for this year’s congress was “Outbreak Investigation: Science and Intuition” and we want congratulate and thank all the presenters who made this years congress a successful event.
Dr Frederick Kivaria from Tanzania unfortunately could not join us as a result of a work commitment but he graciously allowed his work to be presented on his behalf. The information on PPR in Tanzania was very interesting and important to most of the audience as the attendees of this congress would be involved should PPR extend further south into South Africa and its neighbors.
Professor Lucille Blumberg once again provided a fascinating series of talks on the human health aspect of outbreak and outbreak investigation and kept the audience on the edges of their seats. We are also very happy to announce that Prof Blumberg receives SASVEPM’s annual Epidemiology Prize for 2012 for her contribution to the society and its objectives. Well done Lucille!
The recent CEM outbreak in horses in RSA was presented by Prof Alan Guthrie and the team that had first hand experience in this outbreak – this included Dr Martin Schulman, Dr Kate May and Dr Bronwyn Keys. This outbreak is a reminder that exotic diseases do unexpectantly occur from time to time and it is necessary to be on the lookout for them.
The rest of the presentations were very informative and we would also like to congratulate Dr Derryn Petty for winning the prize for the Best Presentation which discussed non-typhoidal salmonellas in the Gauteng region.
Thanks to Adri Fischer from Kingfischer Conference organisers for all her hard work!
The EXCO looks forward to seeing you next year.
2012 Congress Attendees
2012 SASVEPM Epidemiology Prize winner – Prof Lucille Blumberg on right
