8^th International Conference on Animal Health & Veterinary Medicine October 20-21, 2017 Toronto, Canada (Park Inn by Radisson Toronto Airport West, ON)

Claire Andreasen is a Professor and Director of One Health at Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). She has worked with Centers of Excellence at Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas A&M Universities, with funding for emerging and transboundary animal disease education, pathology, and secure food continuity. She has a DVM from Texas A&M, she was in clinical practice, completed a pathology residency and PhD from the University of Georgia and obtained board certification. She was on the faculty at Oregon State University before coming to the ISU CVM. She was previously a Department Chair and then Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs. She has received university awards in teaching, research and departmental leadership.

The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine has a long history of engagement in One Health. The veterinary profession and related health professions interact with both people and animals; therefore, providing a critical intersection of health and wellness information, especially in the areas of zoonotic and infectious diseases, and safe animal-sourced food products. The American Veterinary Medical Association One Health initiative states that: One Health is the integrative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment. One Health is also reflected in our college mission statement: The Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine is dedicated to the enhancement of the health and well-being of animals and human beings through excellence in education, research, professional practice and committed service to the State of Iowa, the nation and the world. It is a critical time to support one health in our missions of education, research, professional practice, and outreach, since a collaborative team approach with various experts is needed to solve global problems that impact public health.

Kyle Schachtschneider, PhD, graduated with a Bachelor’s in Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008, and received his PhD in Animal Sciences from the same institution in 2013. Following the completion of his Doctoral training, he worked as a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre at Wageningen University, the Netherlands performing next generation sequencing analysis to investigate genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic variation associated with healthy and disease states in porcine biomedical models. Following his time overseas, he joined the Department of Radiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop epigenetic and bioinformatics-based projects to compliment the clinically focused research efforts of the department. He is currently utilizing multi-omics datasets to elucidate the mechanisms underlying tumor biology and the impact of the tumor microenvironment on clinically relevant phenotypes in both preclinical and clinical settings.

Despite an improved understanding of cancer molecular biology, immune landscapes, and advancements in cytotoxic, biologic, and immunologic anti-cancer therapeutics, cancer still remains a leading cause of death worldwide. The development and investigation of new diagnostic modalities and innovative therapeutic tools is critical for reducing the global cancer burden. Towards this end, transitional animal models serve a crucial role in bridging the gap between fundamental diagnostic and therapeutic discoveries and human clinical trials. Such animal models offer insights into all aspects of the basic science-clinical translational cancer research continuum (screening, detection, oncogenesis, tumor biology, immunogenicity, therapeutics, and outcomes). To date, however, cancer research progress has been markedly hampered by lack of a genotypically, anatomically, and physiologically relevant large animal model. Our group developed a transgenic porcine model - the oncopig cancer model (OCM) - as a next generation large animal platform for addressing unmet clinical needs. The OCM recapitulates transcriptional hallmarks of human disease while also exhibiting clinically relevant histologic and genotypic tumor phenotypes. Moreover, as the global population becomes increasingly unhealthy, cancer patients commonly present clinically with multiple comorbid conditions. Due to the effects of these comorbidities on patient management, therapeutic strategies, and clinical outcomes, an ideal animal model should develop cancer on the background of representative comorbid conditions (tumor macro and microenvironments). The OCM has the capacity to develop tumors in combination with such relevant comorbidities. Furthermore, studies on the tumor microenvironment demonstrate similarities between OCM and human cancer genomic landscapes.

Yusuf L Henuk is a Professor in the Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture at University of Sumatera Utara (USU), Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Animal Science, the University of Nusa Cendana from 1980-1984. He obtained Master’s in Rural Science (M.Rur.Sc.) from the University of New England 1991 – 1995 and continued Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Queensland 1998 – 2001. He was a Visiting Professor to the Department of Poultry Science, Texas A&M University, USA (September – December 2010 & 2017). He was a prolific writer and has published many articles in international journal and mainly poultry science.

Global food production system is facing challenges to meet the growing demand for quality animal products due to rising incomes, urbanisation, environment and nutritional concerns and other anthropogenic pressures. As the world population rises, the global food system faces an impending crisis and a major component of this crisis is the forecast that the livestock sector is growing at a rate that is deemed unsustainable. Insect consumption by humans has always been a worldwide practice. The practice of eating these six-legged creatures known as insects is called entomophagy, which is derived from the word “ento-”, meaning insect, and “-phagy,” meaning to eat. Insects are already used as food to sustain millions of people around the world, and have been for centuries. This food habit dates back to prehistory and is still traditional in many countries especially where food is in short supply but also where food security is not a major concern. 11 countries around the world had established commercial insect harvesting operations in the wild, from Australia to Vietnam, India, and beyond. In Europe and the US, we have been slower to catch on to this growing trend. But in recent years, budding entrepreneurs have heard the buzz and pioneered a suite of new technologies and methodologies to allow sustainable production of insects. Nutrition value of mealworm has been used as a protein source for domestic animals and even further for human consumption. Therefore, we must look to alternative sources of protein that can be produced on a viable and sustainable commercial scale, and in recent years edible insects have been proposed as one potential ‘new’ protein source for animals. The main reason for this is that many insects can be farmed at relatively low economic and environmental costs; farming insects use up to 50–90% less land per kg protein, 40–80% less feed per kg edible weight and produces 1000–2700 g less GHGEs (Greenhouse gas emissions) per kg mass gain than conventional livestock. Insects at all life stages are rich sources of animal protein. Until now, the main research efforts have focussed on the larvae of the Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), the maggot and pupae of the housefly (Musca domestica), the larvae of the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), and insect families belonging to the order Orthoptera including locusts, grasshoppers, crickets and katylids. However, insects of the order Blattodea, like American, German, and Asian cockroach are also interesting candidates. A 2014 review by FAO scientists of feeding trials conducted on catfish, tilapia, rainbow trout, and several other fish species, as well as crustaceans, chickens, and pigs, concluded that insect meal could replace between 25% and 100% of soymeal or fishmeal in the animals’ diets with no adverse effects. The nutritional profile of mealworms is comparable to other protein sources currently used in poultry feeds, especially fishmeal. On a dry matter basis, mealworms contain 44-69% protein, 23-47% fat than fishmeal contain 61-77% protein, 11-17% fat. Currently, mealworm are known in Indonesia as “ulat hong kong” which has been used widely as feed for pigs, poultry and fish.

Paa Kobina Turkson is a Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology. He is a Veterinarian by profession and a Veterinary Epidemiologist by specialization. He obtained a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (1983) and an MSc in Veterinary Public Health (1986) from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and a PhD in Epidemiology from the College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh USA in 1998. He is currently the Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghana.

Antimicobials have been and are being used extensively in animal health and production to treat and/or prevent infections or diseases and as probiotics or antibiotic growth promoters. Most of these antimicrobials are similar in structure or formulary to those used for treatment of certain human infections or diseases. Indiscriminate, improper or irrational use of antimicrobials in agriculture, especially in animal health, have been recognised as a source or sources of exposure to antimicrobial and antimicrobial residues and a contributory factor to the emergence or persistence of antimicrobial resistance in certain bacteria causing infections in humans. This paper reviews information on antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in animal health and production in Ghana, discusses the implications of these findings to human health and sets out recommendations to mitigate the situation.