FROM THE DIRECTOR

At the time of the preparation of this missive, the most recent class of veterinary colleagues, the Class of 1996, have joined the ranks of the veterinary profession. Welcome to these most accomplished of colleagues. We at the ADDL look forward to serving you with diagnostic assistance and consultation for years in your distinguished chosen career. Among the current diagnostic issues encountered at the Laboratory and by referring veterinarians is Johne's disease in small ruminants. For some as yet undetermined reason, the Mycobacteriumparatuberculosis of Johne's disease in sheep is next to impossible to grow in-vitro. At this time, serology for diagnosis of the disease in sheep is not available; so that the bottom line of Johne's disease in sheep is that ante-mortem diagnosis is hard to come by, with essentially the only avenue the incorporation of DNA-probe analysis which is very expensive. We have been informed by a number of practitioners that this disease in sheep is increasing in incidence. We are on the alert to identify tests that become available for use in control of the spread. An ELISA serology test is available for use of diagnosis of Johne's disease of goats; it is also reported that the disease is increasing in incidence in this species. An abnormality of the disease in sheep and goats as compared to cattle is seen in the fact that diarrhea is seldom seen until late in the disease and the primary sign is weight loss and the accompanying symptoms such as hypoproteinemia and bottle jaw. With regard to Johne's disease in cattle, there is a national survey being conducted in certain states in an attempt to determine the incidence of the disease primarily in dairy cattle. It is anticipated that the results of this survey will be made I available in about a year and a half. Again, welcome to the SVM Class of 1996, we are glad to have your expertise and energy in the veterinary profession.

During the next few months, there will be changes of the director of the ADDL. Upon Dean Hugh Lewis' retirement from the deanship of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Alan Rebar was appointed Dean of the School, our congratulations to Dr. Rebar and our well wishes to Dean Lewis. As Dean Rebar vacates the position of Head of the Department ofPathobiologyof the SVM, he has asked me to serve as interim head until a new head is selected and on board. In the meantime, the Assistant Director of ADDL, Dr. Randy White, will take over many of the day-to-day duties as director of the Lab.

FROM THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Although there will be some "shifting of responsibilities" at the ADDL for the next year, let me assure you that our goal to provide you with the very best diagnostic services available remains our top priority.

Since I may be new to some of you, let me briefly introduce myself: I received my DVM degree from Auburn University in 1982 and was in a solo mixed practice for approximately two and one-half years before returning to graduate school at the University of Georgia, where I received my PhD degree in Veterinary Pathology in 1988.1 have been a diagnostic pathologist at the ADDL since June 1988. My responsibilities have included; necropsy and histopathology, supervision of graduate students in our residency program, supervisor of the Histotechnique Laboratory, and teaching courses to our professional students in the School of Veterinary Medicine. My primary research interests have been in the field of aquaculture, although I have also been involved in other collaborative research projects involving a wide variety of domestic animals. I became the Assistant Director of ADDL in 1993, and in this capacity, I have been involved in the ADDL Advisory Board, as well as other committees in the School of Veterinary Medicine in Dr. Thacker's absence.

While we will certainly miss Dr. Thacker's leadership abilities for the next year, we will move forward in a positive manner. We will continue to investigate new diagnostic tests which will serve you better as well as evaluate other methods to provide diagnostic results more rapidly as we embrace this "information age". As always, we will continue to seek your input into ways of improving our service to you. Please let us know how we are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.