Virbac welcomed as Co-Sponsor: ABCD to become a self-governing organisation

The ABCD was set up in 2005 by founding chairman Marian Horzinek () and Jean-Christophe Thibault of animal health company Merial (now Boehringer Ingelheim), with the aim to compile guidelines for the prevention and management of major feline infectious diseases in Europe, based on the latest scientific knowledge.

So far, the ABCD has produced 48 consensus guidelines on feline infectious diseases – with a further three in preparation – as well as 25 fact sheets and three practical tools with decision diagrams on outbreak situations, disease control and diagnostic approaches. The documents are freely available from the ABCD website.

“Our group meets twice a year, not only to discuss new guidelines, but also to keep all our guidelines and other consensus documents up to date. We aim to disseminate them throughout the scientific community and to our colleagues in practice, confirmed professor Karin Möstl (Austria), ABCD chair.

“For optimal awareness among our colleagues, we are translating our fact sheets, which are also available from our website and at major veterinary events. We’ve recently created a Facebook page and a monthly newsletter. All this obviously requires a huge investment in time and resources.

“We are very grateful to Merial and currently Boehringer Ingelheim for their unwavering support for well over 13 years. However, our growing success means that the time has come to establish the ABCD as a separate legal entity,” she announced at the recent ABCD meeting in Tulln, near Vienna, Austria.

“This will allow the ABCD board to consider support from other players in the veterinary industry in order to continue its mission.”

While Boehringer Ingelheim has pledged its continued support, the French-based veterinary pharmaceutical company Virbac recently also announced its commitment to support the group.

“We have been following the activities of the ABCD over the past years, and are very excited to be part of this adventure,” confirmed Uwe Schultheiss, Global marketing manager companion animals at Virbac.

“We believe that the open sponsorship will benefit all involved, and will allow the ABCD to continue its worthwhile activities. Not being tied to a single sponsor will further enhance its image of scientific independence.”