March 01, 2004
AVMA president encourages support for upgrades at Plum Island By Bridget M. Kuehn Posted Feb. 15, 2004 After 50 years of service as the only facility in North America where foot-and-mouth disease research can be done, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center needs a new facility, officials from the Department of Homeland Security have determined. The DHS took over the management of Plum Island in June 2003. Previously, the Department of Agriculture managed the facility at Plum Island. Several representatives from the AVMA toured the facility this past Dec. 11. During the visit, the representatives learned more about the role Plum Island will play in the DHS mission. Dr. Elizabeth A. Lautner, the newly appointed director of Plum Island, and Col ...
Take Notice
Posted Feb. 15, 2004 On Jan. 26, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced several new public health measures that the Food and Drug Administration will implement to strengthen the firewalls against bovine spongiform encephalopathy. According to the FDA, the new safeguards are science-based and bolster the already effective firewalls developed by Department of Agriculture and the HHS. Specifically, the HHS intends to ban from human food (including dietary supplements) and cosmetics a wide range of bovine-derived material. That way, the same safeguards that protect Americans from exposure to the BSE agent through meat products regulated by the USDA will also apply to food products regulated by the FDA. The FDA will also ...
Washington Veterinary News
Posted Feb. 15, 2004 The greatest number of Americans without health insurance do have jobs, and many of their employers wish they could afford to offer those employees health coverage. Small businesses employ nearly 60 percent of the 43 million uninsured Americans. As part of his plan to help the uninsured, President Bush called on Congress to pass the Association Health Plan legislation. The AVMA is part of a 150-member coalition that is lobbying for passage of this initiative, which would enable small businesses to purchase affordable employee health coverage. In his State of the Union address Jan. 20, the president told a Joint Session of Congress, "Small businesses should be able to band together and negotiate for lower insurance ...