The theme for the 2010 SASVEPM Congress was
“ANIMAL AND MAN: EXPLORING THE EXPANDING INTERFACE”,
which focussed on zoonoses and supporting the principle of “One World, One Health”.
Click here to download the 2010 Congress Proceedings
We were honoured to have an internationally acclaimed plenary speaker for the 2010 SASVEPM Congress in the person of Dr. Gideon Brückner. After a distinguished career in the South African Veterinary Services, Dr Brückner joined the OIE Central Bureau as Head of the Scientific and Technical Department at the beginning of 2006. In October 2007 he was promoted to Deputy Director General, Animal Health and International Trade. This achievement is a first for South Africa. Amongst others, he was instrumental in promoting OFFLU, the OIE/FAO network of expertise for avian influenza and the OIE initiative on laboratory twinning to enable access to scientific expertise for developing countries. He retired from the OIE at the end of March 2009 and returned to his home country, South Africa. During his time at the OIE in Paris, he managed to facilitate and initiate several aspects to the advantage of Africa and southern Africa. He was instrumental and the key driver to obtain OIE Reference Laboratory status for the Onderstepoort Institute for Epizootic diseases as well as the nomination and acceptance of the Faculty of Veterinary Science as an OIE Collaborating Centre for Training in integrated livestock and wildlife health and management. In May 2009, he was proposed by Africa and elected unanimously by the OIE International Assembly consisting of 174 countries, as President of the OIE Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases. In this capacity he will be able to further promote and serve the interests of the African continent.
Dr. Lucille Blumberg MBBCH, MMed (Micro) FFTM (Glasgow) DTMH DOH DCH was the continued education presenter for this congress. She is a deputy director at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg, South Africa and a lecturer and Professor at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Stellenbosch respectively. She is head of the Epidemiology division which includes the surveillance, travel medicine and outbreak units at the NICD and is the medical consultant to the Special Pathogens Unit. Dr Blumberg qualified at the University of the Witwatersrand in 1974, worked in clinical medicine in paediatrics, critical care and infectious diseases before qualifying as a specialist microbiologist. She worked at the Sizwe Tropical and TB Hospital in Johannesburg from 1988-1991. Her special interests are tropical medicine, travel- related diseases, zoonotic diseases, severe malaria, drug- resistant tuberculosis, rabies and viral haemorrhagic fevers. She is a member of the National Malaria Advisory Group, the National Rabies Advisory Group and the National Outbreak Response Team.
We believe the congress was a success and we trust that the delegates will take valuable knowledge with them and make use of it in their daily work