K-State host to World Rabies Day Symposium emphasizing 1 health strategy

Kansas State University's commitment to the intersection of animal and human health is guiding the World Rabies Day National Symposium, taking place Saturday, Sept. 19, at the K-State Alumni Center.

The university's student chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association had the highest documented student participation in its 2008 World Rabies Day events within the United States and it's territories, making K-State the site for the 2009 symposium. The symposium contest is hosted by the Alliance for Rabies Control, a nonprofit organization that developed the World Rabies Day campaign. The symposium sponsor is Merial, one of the world's leading animal health companies.

The symposium theme is "Kansas State University: Promoting One Health Through World Rabies Day." The event will bring together public health officials, physicians, veterinary and medical students, faculty, and practicing veterinarians. Presentations will include lectures by K-State experts as well as presenters from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Merial and the Alliance for Rabies Control.

Topics include the One Health Initiative, a movement to forge collaborations between physicians, veterinarians and other scientific-health related disciplines. Speakers also will talk about One Health Kansas and their partnerships; rabies on a global, national and local level; and the public health implications of recent rabies cases.

The K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory's Rabies Laboratory is the primary diagnostic laboratory for Kansas and Nebraska and is one of the highest-volume rabies serology centers in the world for both humans and animals.

Source: Kansas State University