Holiday Shipping Reminders
Katie Esbenshade, Laboratory Scientist 2, Serology
Oh, the Who-manity, it’s that time of year again! The holiday season is here and online shopping continues to be the preferred way to obtain what we need. This will cause even more strain on the already stretched couriers and may lead to delays in your samples arriving to the lab. Please plan in advance when submitting samples and allot for extra shipping days. Please see the FedEx or UPS holiday schedules for more detailed information on shipping during the holiday If you are faced with a tight turn around time please contact the lab at 614-728-6220 or by email. It may be best to have someone drive the samples to the lab for testing or use a same day courier.
Another thing to keep in mind this winter when shipping samples is the temperature. If you are shipping samples that need to stay warm, like Tritrichomonas pouches, make sure to have enough warm packs to maintain a temperature of at least 15°C, preferably 15-37°C, during transit.
Melanie Prarat, M.S., Central Receiving Supervisor
The ADDL welcomed three new additions to the laboratory in November: Sumathi Venkateswaran (IT Developer), Rachel Amos (Veterinary Pathology Assistant), and Cassady Griffin (Lab Tech 2 in Central Receiving).
Sumathi Venkateswaran graduated from Anna University at Chennai in India with a Bachelor of Engineering in 2006. She has been working as an IT developer for more than eight years using different software application developing technologies and in different software domains including Real Estate, Banking, and Healthcare. Additionally, Sumathi is an IBM Data Science Machine Learning certified professional with experience as a data analyst through analyzing, visualizing, and predicting data. In her spare time, she likes enjoys walking and spending time with her two lovely children and husband.
Rachel Amos join the lab graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2013 with a B.S. in Biology. After completing her undergraduate program, she then pursued work with marine mammals on various United States coast lines including Maine, Mississippi, and Washington. Her jobs included marine mammal researcher, whale watching naturalist and stranding biologist. During that time, she was able to work in marine mammal pathology and decided to pursue a veterinary technology degree. Rachel will graduate from Columbus State Community College Veterinary Technology program in December and will be taking the VTNE in March. In her free time, Rachel likes to go hiking and backpacking with her dog Lyra and enjoys traveling to new places.
Cassady Griffin graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from Otterbein University in 2019 and has a passion for ecology and conservation biology. While in school, she worked part-time while in retail, moving up to HR and recruiting, as Cassady loves working with people. With the pandemic, Ms. Griffin shifted jobs and entered lab work in the molecular biology department at Labcorp, where PCR volumes could peak up to 10,000 COVID-19 samples in a day. Outside of work, Cassady is an avid lover of house plants, and grows anything from cacti to tropical plants. She enjoys rollerskating as the weather allows and picked up crochet as her pandemic hobby. Cassady has a small mutt named Bean who she loves to take to all the local metro parks.
Antimicrobial Resistance Resources for Veterinarians
Dominika Jurkovic, Ph.D., Laboratory Scientist 3, Bacteriology
Antimicrobial Awareness Week was November 17-24th. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat, infecting not only humans, but pets and livestock. The theme for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) was, “Spread awareness, stop resistance.” Several resources are available for veterinarians to enhance their current antimicrobial stewardship plans in their practices, such as Antimicrobial-resistant pathogens affecting animal health resource page published by the AVMA. Antimicrobial stewardship maintains animal health by utilizing strategies to prevent disease and appropriate use of antimicrobials.
On December 14th, the CDC is hosting “Hooves, Paws, or Feet: Examining AMR in Animals,” as part of the CDC's AMR Exchange. Topics of this free webinar include addressing AMR, understanding veterinary prescribing practices, and biosecurity and infection prevention measures. Click here to register.
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week was the topic of a recent episode of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's weekly podcast, Cultivating Convos. Listen to the episode to learn more about WAAW and the role ADDL plays in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
Finally, the USDA National Animal Health Laboratory (NAHLN) AMR Pilot Project published it’s 2020 Year 3 Report. Currently in its 4th year, the NAHLN AMR Pilot project monitors AMR profiles in animal pathogens isolated from veterinary clinics and diagnostic laboratories across the United States. The AMR Dashboard is publicly available here.
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