Karen Conyngham Biography

Karen is a librarian from Austin, TX. She and her husband Jim have 2 gelding llamas, Jack and Spats, who are 12 years old. The llamas are strictly companions, although both are pack trained and they participate in holiday parades around central Texas.

Karen has been a member of ILA, ILR and LANA since 1992, RMLA since 1994, PLTA since 1998 and membership secretary for the South Central Llama Assoc. since 1994. She joined the US Animal Health Association (USAHA) in 1995 and was appointed to the Cattle, Bison and Lama Committee (now Cattle, Bison and Camelids) in 2001 and to the Livestock ID Committee in 2003. Karen has also been added to the committee on tuberculosis and the committee on brucellosis for 2005.

In 1998, Karen and fellow SCLA member Joan Lyons, approached the Texas Animal Health Commission to appeal a change in state entry regulations that required a negative TB test within 30 days and negative brucellosis test within 60 days of entry for camelids. They worked with the state epidemiologist and TB expert to modify the regulations and presented the request at a Commission meeting where it was accepted. After being published for comment in the Texas Register, the change in regulation was made about 8 months after the initial request. Camelids entering Texas now have a 6-month test interval for animals 18 months of age and older for both tests; neutered animals are exempt from the brucellosis test.

Since 2001, Karen has worked in conjunction with Teri Baird, Dan Goodyear, Susan Tellez and Marsharee Wilcox - all USAHA members - as part of the Camelid Alliance to further camelid interests both within USAHA and the camelid community at large. She will continue to work with the Alliance members to increase awareness among state and federal officials about the health interests of camelids.

At the annual USAHA meeting in 2004, Karen was installed on the USAHA Board of Directors, as the Intl. Lama Registry representative, a position which has been so capably handled by Bob Frost of Lincoln, CA, for the past 6 years. Bob will retain a seat on the USAHA BOD in his capacity as past president of USAHA.

In 1995, SCLA awarded Karen the Arnold Sorensen Award for “dedication to the improvement of SCLA and protecting the welfare of llamas raised in the South”. In 1998 she was awarded the ILA’s Pushmi-Pullyu Award and in June of 2004, LANA honored her with their Lifetime Achievement award. She also enjoys felting and knitting with llama fiber as time allows.

Bob Frost Biography

Bob Frost has owned llamas since 1979 at his ranch in Lincoln, CA. He has always had a keen interest in camelid health topics and has assisted with many camelid research projects at the University of California at Davis. This is where he met Dr. Murray Fowler who has been his mentor and close personal friend. Bob served as vice-president of the International Llama Association (ILA) in 1991 and continued to serve on the ILA board until 1993 and after that, on the ILA Research Committee.

In August of 1990, the Canadian government closed the border to the importation of US camelids due to the lack of a validated live animal test for Mycobacterium bovis (bovine tuberculosis). This issue became a concern after outbreaks of TB occurred in farmed deer and elk and Canadian officials suspected llamas/alpacas were also causing TB outbreaks. Bob became deeply involved in the TB issue through his ILA and United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) connections, working to demonstrate to provincial and state regulatory officials that llamas/alpacas were not carriers of TB and did not pose a TB threat to livestock or wildlife.

M. bovis can be transmitted from cattle to many species, including camelids. TB is a zoonotic disease which means it can also be transmitted to humans, and humans to animals; hence the importance to government regulatory agencies of controlling this disease. TB is detected by means of a skin test. When the tuberculin is injected into animals affected with TB, a reaction develops at the injection site, alerting the veterinarian to the presence of TB.

Bob was instrumental in getting ILA to sponsor a Washington D.C. meeting with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Canada (now the Canadian Food Inspection Agency-CFIA) and private researchers in 1992. At this meeting, USDA announced it would enter into a four year cooperative agreement with Argentina to further develop and validate a diagnostic test for TB in camelids. Also as a result of this meeting, the Canadian government and USDA agreed to carry out other TB diagnostic projects and research on other diseases in llamas/alpacas. Through Bob’s efforts working with ILA and USAHA the Canadian and U.S. governments spent over $500,000 on camelid TB diagnostic research. The Canadian border finally reopened to camelids in 1997.

Bob has been a member of USAHA since 1989, serving on many committees, including Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, Infectious Diseases of Cattle, Bison & Lama and Wildlife Diseases. Each year he has made presentations to these committees on the lack of either TB or brucellosis and other diseases in North American camelids. He co-authored a landmark article with Dr. Murray Fowler in 1999, “Prevalence of Selected Diseases of Llamas and Alpacas”. He represented the ILA and, more recently, the ILR on the USAHA Board of Directors from 1999-2004.

Elected Third-Vice President of the 108 year old USAHA in 1999, Bob moved through the chairs and was the first livestock producer other than a cattle or sheep person to become a USAHA president. He worked tirelessly in support of the development of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), a network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories, and the “$460 Million Ames Master Plan” to modernize the three federal reference animal health laboratories in Ames, IA.

Under his guidance, at the 2003 USAHA annual meeting, an International Standards Committee was established to bring together decision makers at the international level to encourage discussion, consensus and adoption of science-based policies regarding animal health requirements in world trade.

After 9/11 and as the nation moved into the new millennium, Bob felt USAHA needed new partners to assist in accomplishing the goals and mission of the Association. As President he brought ten new partners to the Board of Directors for approval. The following became members of USAHA at the 2003 and 2004 annual meetings: USDHHS-Food & Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USDOI - National Park Service, USDOI - National Wildlife Health Center, USDOE - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, USDA - Wildlife Services, USDOI -U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association.

Also as USAHA President, he formed USAHA’s newest standing committee. The “Committee on Diagnostic Laboratories and Veterinary Workforce Development” held its first meeting in 2004 at the Greensboro annual meeting and will work on North American diagnostic laboratory and veterinarian workforce deficiencies with Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Bob still maintains his 100 llamas which have been a “closed herd” since 1991. He does not breed or sell them. He hopes someday before he and all his llamas go to the big pasture in the sky that BSL-3 laboratory space and federal funds will again become available to complete the llama/alpaca research diagnostic projects that he, Dr. Fowler and a U.S./Canadian team embarked on in the spring of 2000 at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg, Manitoba. West Nile Virus and Chronic Wasting Disease research projects in both countries took precedent that spring of 2000 and the shortage of BSL-3 laboratories in North America since 9/11 will prevent llama/alpaca diagnostic research of that magnitude for the foreseeable future.

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