Brazilian researcher receives award for excellence in veterinary public health

Dr. Luisa Zanolli Moreno has received the Pedro N. Acha Award for Excellence in Veterinary Public Health for her undergraduate thesis, "Molecular epidemiology of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from different sources in Brazil."
The results of the 23-year-old graduate of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the University of São Paulo's thesis has great significance to the pork industry. L. monocytogenes is a worldwide foodborne pathogen that can be lethal to both humans and animals; it grows at very low temperatures and adapts to disinfectants, which makes it extremely difficult for the food industry to fight.  

"Dr. Zanolli Moreno's findings are an important step toward improving food safety at a time when there was a Listeria monocytogene outbreak in the United States this past August," said Edward L. Kadunc, president of the Pan American Health and Education Foundation. "This is very much a real threat to consumers in the Americas and worldwide."

The award was created in 1993 to recognize the importance of veterinary public health to the peoples of the Americas and the economies of the countries. Zanolli Moreno is the second Brazilian ever to receive the honor.