Blaine Award 2009

Bill Ollier (Professor of Immunogenetics) and Dr Lorna Kennedy (Senior Scientist), recently received the Blaine Award for their outstanding contribution to the veterinary profession’s understanding of canine and feline genetics. The Award ceremony took place at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) Congress in Birmingham, April 2009. This annual Congress is the premier international academic meeting for small animal medicine, regularly attracting over 6,000 delegates from the small animal profession in the UK and from overseas, and the support industry.

The Blaine Award is presented annually by Royal Canin for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal veterinary medicine or surgery, and takes the form of a framed certificate and a cheque.

PETS or Pests? Balancing pet travel and disease control

Whilst at the Congress, Bill Ollier was a speaker at this joint BVA/BSAVA session which took the form of a discussion forum which looked at the science behind the threats of pet travel and zoonotic disease in the UK and to stimulate an informed debate. This is related to pressure on the UK to harmonise with the rest of Europe by way of relaxation of the quarantine rules under the Pet Passport Scheme (PETS). The session was also attended by European Chief Veterinary Officers as well as representatives from the Commission and Parliamentarians. 

Bill Ollier’s talk was entitled "Rabies vaccination – does it protect enough to risk stopping serology testing?His fellow speakers were:

• Dr Susan Shaw (University of Bristol) "Vector borne diseases – are we underestimating the threat to public and animal health?"
• Dr Dilys Morgan (Health Protection Agency) and Professor Phil Craig (University of Salford) "Echinococcus multilocularis – how serious a zoonosis to public health is this tapeworm?"
• Nigel Gibbens (Chief Veterinary Officer, Defra) "What is Defra policy on the end of the Pet Travel Scheme derogation?"