National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP) - Aquatic ANIMAL Modules 13, 14 & 15

Kathleen H. Hartman*1, Lynn H. Creekmore*1 and Christa L. Speekmann*3

1USDA, APHIS Veterinary Services
Kathleen.H.Hartman@aphis.usda.gov
Lynn.H.Creekmore@aphis.usda.gov
3USDA, APHIS National Import and Export Services
Christa.L.Speekmann@aphis.usda.gov

In order to improve and expand regulatory veterinary support and services to U.S. aquaculture industries, USDA APHIS has developed three NVAP modules specifically for aquatic animal health topics and issues.

The goal of the NVAP program and the aquatics modules are to focus on information that accredited veterinarians should possess in order to conduct regulatory activities in aquatic animals, such as reporting outbreaks of reportable aquatic animal diseases and issuing export health certificates.

NVAP module 13 addresses "aquatic animal health regulations and health certification"; module 14 covers the "evaluation of aquatic animals for detection of reportable diseases and pathogens"; and module 15 reviews "preventing disease introduction and spread in aquaculture".

During these presentations, APHIS will present the newly updated modules of 13, 14 and 15. Accredited veterinarians attending this lecture will be eligible to earn NVAP Category II continuing education credits.

These modules are available online, at no cost, to APHIS accredited veterinarians and anyone interested in viewing the material. Each module takes about an hour to go through and contains self-graded knowledge assessments. Modules may be found at this website: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/home/?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2Faphis_content_library%2Fsa_our_focus%2Fsa_animal_health%2Fsa_vet_accreditation%2Fct_aast.