Koi Health Seminar

The seminar was held on January 30 - February 1, 2009

Welcome to the 8th Annual Koi Health Seminar!

The Seminar Agenda for 2009 has expanded to three full days and still maintained the same fee as previous years!

Note for Veterinarians and Veterinarian Technicians:  This three day course is designed to offer veterinary techniques as related to fish disease diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Hands on participation in wet labs and interaction with Veterinarians that offer fish medicine in their own practice. This course provides 20 hours of CE credits to both Veterinarians and Veterinarian Technicians and allows the practice to offer in-field pond calls to expand the level of offered services.

Note for AKCA Koi Health Advisors:  Attendance of this course should fulfill KHA program requirements for continuing education.

The seminar will be held on January 30 - February 1, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in Athens, Georgia.

The seminar on site check-in desk opens at 8:00am on Friday morning with the first seminar session beginning at 8:30am.

On Saturday and Sunday the sessions will begin at 8:30am at the Holiday Inn.

Breakfasts will be provided by the Holiday Inn as part of their room rate for this event.

Lunches will be provided daily as well as refreshments during the seminar sessions.

The daily sessions will end with a roundtable discussion.

Friday evening a BBQ dinner will follow the seminar.

Saturday evening participants are free to visit one of the many fine restaurants in Athens.

Seminar Hotel

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Holiday Inn Athens.  Their phone number is 706-549-4433.   Their address is:  197 East Broad St., Athens GA 30606.  http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/ahnga?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/hi/1/en/hotelsearchresults

Nearest Airports

Atlanta's Hartfield/Jackson (ATL) is the nearest large airport.   There is some limited service by US air directly into Athens/Ben Epps airport.

Hotel Shuttle

AAA shuttle operates 6 times per day from Atlanta airport directly to the hotel. Requires reservations at a cost of $35 each way. 800-354-7874

Speakers:

Dr Erik Johnson

Dr. Erik Johnson is a veterinarian and fish health specialist.  He has been practicing fish medicine since graduation in 1991 from UGA.  He's a well known speaker on the national level.  He has been an instructor of UGA Ornamental Fish Health Course on many occasions.  Dr. Johnson is a published author with books and many articles to his credit.  He sponsors multiple websites on fish health.

Dr Steven Hernandez-Divers

Dr, Stephen Hernandez-Divers graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in London, and is a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Diplomate of Zoological Medicine, a RCVS recognized Specialist in Zoo & Wildlife Medicine, and a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine. He is a past-president of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians, associate editor for the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, and chair of the editorial board for the Journal of Herpetological Medicine & Surgery. Dr ‘HD’ is Associate Professor of Exotic Animal, Wildlife, and Zoological Medicine, and  co-director of the Endoscopy Research and Development Center, at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia.

Dr Helen Roberts

Dr Helen Roberts received her DVM from the University of Georgia in 1990.  She currently co-owns a small and exotic animal practice in Orchard Park, NY and also owns an ambulatory practice exclusively for pet fish.  Helen is involved with local emergency and disaster response in Western New York, where she serves as the veterinary sector leader for a regional specialized medical response team.  Dr Roberts is also a consultant for Veterinary Information Network (VIN-aquatics) and teaches several veterinary technician courses online for Vet Med Team.   In her spare time, she enjoys being in her backyard where she has several ornamental fish ponds and over fifteen bird feeding stations.  She also is an avid computer gamer.

Dr Brian Palmeiro

Dr. Brian Palmeiro received a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University with a major in animal science and a minor in marine biology.  While at Rutgers, he worked as head aquarist at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences.  Dr. Palmeiro attended veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine.  Currently, Dr. Palmeiro is employed as a small animal veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.   Dr. Palmeiro is also the staff veterinarian for a large ornamental fish wholesaler in Philadelphia, where he works with an extremely diverse population of fish.   Dr. Palmeiro also does consultations for private koi ponds, aquaria and other fish retail and breeding facilities (www.petfishdoctor.com).  He is an aquatic animal medicine consultant for the Veterinary Information Network.  Dr. Palmeiro is involved in various studies focusing on ornamental fish health including a research project establishing normal biochemistry values in koi and research on microbiological characteristics of koi ulcer disease.  He has given numerous lectures and laboratories on fish medicine to hobbyists, veterinary students and veterinarians.  Dr. Palmeiro recently created and directed the first clinical rotation in pet fish medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.   He is a founding member of the World Aquatic Veterinary Medicial Association, and a member of the Fish Veterinary Society.

Vicki Vaughan

Vicki is the Director of KOILAB Diagnostics and owner/operator of Flat Rock Koi (www.flatrockkoi.com) which breeds and imports koi. Ms. Vaughan is the course coordinator for The Koi Health Seminar which is a 3 day hands on lecture series and wet lab designed to introduce hobbyists, retailers, and veterinarians to disease identification, treatment and prevention.

Joe Hatfield, Jr.

Joe is a Retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and is currently a Pilot Instructor and responsible for Corporate Emergency Plans for Delta Airlines.   Joe is also an active golfer and grandfather of three beautiful little girls who love Spooky, their Hi Utsuri.

Joe's interest in the fish goes back to college days in the 1960’s, when he set up his first aquarium and began raising live bearers.  Numerous anatomy courses taken and the eventual minor in biology left a lasting interest in the fish hobby.   The first real exposure to Koi was on his first trip to Japan while assigned to the Far East in the military.  One look and he was hooked.  He swore to himself that someday he would raise and keep Koi.  It wasn’t until after  retirement from the US Army in 1993, some 20 years later, that Joe was able to build his first Koi pond.

Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson is an Electrical Engineer who has worked with telecommunication systems since 1972.  Michael and his wife Toni built their first pond in the spring of 1998.  It was in reality a water garden with koi.  This combination caused them to both learn better ways to keep koi.  In 2001 the water garden was replaced by a 4,000 gallon koi pond designed by Michael.  In 2003 Michael and Toni moved to Atlanta and joined the Atlanta Koi Club.    Michael designed the club's website and is the club's AKCA Director.  Michael is also Vice President for 2008-2009. Toni is the Newsletter Editor.  Michael designed and built their current 8' deep 10,000 gallon koi pond.. He is a contributor to KOIUSA and KOI NATION magazines and is a regular on koi-related bulletin boards such as KoiShack (www.koishack.com). 

Event Agenda:  Three Full Days!!!

Friday Jan. 30, 2009

8:00-8:30 - Registration

8:30-9:30 – Welcome, speaker introductions & orientation 

9:30-10:30 – Fish health uncomplicated

10:30-10:45 - Break

10:45-12:00 - H2O Quality encompassing non-contagious diseases

12:00 – 1:00 - Lunch & Case Presentations

1:00 – 2:00 - Proper pond design

2:00 – 3:00 - Koi Nutrition

3:00 – 3:15 - Break

3:15 – 5:15 - Classes of antibiotics and uses

5:15 – 6:30 – Break

6:30  - Bus leaves for BBQ   (there will be  Evening Dinner Entertainment)

9:00  - Bus returns to Holiday Inn

Saturday Jan. 31, 2009

8:00 – 9:00 - Bacteriology – Differential & selective media & staining techniques

9:00 – 10:00 – Parasitic diseases of Koi – usual and exotic

10:00 – 10:15 – Break

10:15 – 11:15 – Viral diseases of koi 

11:15 – 12:15 – Physiology & fecal exam of fish

12:15 – 1:15 – Lunch – History of Nishikigoi

1:15-2:15 – Further diagnostic testing and treatments

2:15 – 3:15 – Quarantine equipment & protocol

3:15 – 3:30 – Break

3:30 – 4:30 – Diagnostic Imaging

4:30 – 5:30 – Round Table Discussion

Sunday Feb. 1, 2009

8:00 – 8:30 – Orientation for labs & use of microscopes

8:30 – 9:30 – Anatomy & sampling techniques

9:30 – 12:00 – Wet lab – possible lecture if everything’s accomplished in wet lab

12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch

1:00 – 2:00 – Parasites management & treatment

2:00 – 3:00 – Surgery and wound management

3:00 – 3:15 – Break

3:15 – 4:30 – Round table discussion

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