MISSISSIPPI STATE – Veterinary students will join a diverse group of public health and veterinary experts in late September to explore successes and challenges in rabies prevention on both local and global scales.

The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine will host the sixth annual Merial Rabies Symposium on World Rabies Day, Sept. 28.

This year’s symposium is themed “Protecting Animals, People and Our Future.” Activities will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wise Center in Starkville.

The symposium addresses rabies from the local to the international scale. Its goals are to increase rabies awareness and its impact on human and animal health and to encourage prevention through education and animal vaccination. Hundreds of experts and students from around the country attend the event each year, and this is the first time it will be hosted in Mississippi.

Featured speakers include Dr. Joanne Maki, Merial’s Global Oral Rabies Program Manager, and Dr. Lea Knopf with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control.

Interactive breakout sessions will provide a forum to discuss rabies cases and management from the veterinary, public health and human health perspectives.

Registration is free, and continuing education credits are available. To register or to find more information, visit http://goo.gl/qMk25O.

Contact: Karen Templeton, 662-325-1100