IPVS president praises outcome of pig vet congress

Thanking the audience at the closing ceremony, Sanford spoke of a ‘smashing success’. The event attracted far more delegates than initially had been estimated (between 1,600 and 1,800) and even a more positive adjustment after the previous congress in 2008 had not been able to project this number of delegates.

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Sanford named the beautiful city of Vancouver as one of the reasons for the great outcome. “And I am sure that the scientific committee – which compiled the scientific programme – was also involved in attracting a large number of scientists from all over the world.”

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Sanford announced that some changes will be happening in the construction of the Congress’ organisation. An ongoing consolidation among animal health companies has reduced the number of potential large sponsors, which may eventually lead to higher delegate attendance fees.

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Sanford added that an IPVS secretariat will be set up which will be maintaining the IPVS’ website, database and historical records, establish contacts with sponsors and partners, pursue bids and maintain contacts for national pig veterinary organisations.

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In total, the IPVS Congress in 2010 attracted 2,608 veterinarians. The majority came from the US (305) and Canada (270). Germany and Spain were Europe’s best represented countries; Korea, Brazil and Mexico were also among the top countries.

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Altogether 1,186 abstracts have been submitted of which 262 were orally presented. Major topics still included Porcine Circovirus, type 2 (PCV2), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy (PPE).

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New topics included PWCS, MRSA, pandemic H1N1, Sanford said. Welfare continued to be a growing topic as well.

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At the end of the Congress, IPVS president Dr Ernest Sanford handed over the presidency to Dr Won Hyung Lee who will take over from here. In 2012, the Congress will be held in Jeju, South Korea.

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